Dangan Pokémonpa: Despair's Conference
by Trainer Butts
Summary: Sixteen of the most promising minds of the Pokemon World gathered to take part in the Conference of Interregional Progress. What no one told them was that they must murder each other in order to be allowed to leave.
1. Prologue

The enormous academy towered over Castelia City's central, upper-class residential district. It was like... the whole world revolved around that place... Castelia Tech... This federally accredited, super privileged academy gathers students of the highest caliber in all fields... so it can groom them to be the best of the best. Graduating is said to guarantee a life of success. Castelia Tech has been producing top-tier prospects in every discipline for as long as anyone can remember.

Fostering students in whom the country can place their hope, it is aptly referred to as "Hope's Academy". There are two qualifications one must meet to enroll:

1) You must be in high school.

2) You must excel in all subjects.

There is no application process- all new students are scouted by the academy. And yet, there I was... standing before the gates to an academy as superbly, supremely amazing as that...

Of course, I wasn't enrolling there. I don't think I would have been able to handle that. But even so... an invitation to attend the annual Conference of Interregional Progress is... astounding...

It's a little by the books, but I want to start off by introducing myself. My name is Touya Black. I am just as I sound to be, a helplessly ordinary average high school student. I'm not a whole lot different on the inside, either. I'm not particularly skilled in anything. I'm not very eccentric, nothing really "extraordinary" at all. I don't have many tastes, or interests. I'm not a Gym Leader or a Champion- I don't even have a pokemon. If you want to know my favorite actor, comic, band, or movie, just look at the charts and there you go. Whatever's number one, that's more than likely it. Ordinary to an almost cliche degree, the most average of the average... that's me. Starting things off so by-the-books with an introduction is a great example of that.

And there I was- normal, everyday me standing in front of Castelia Tech, a far cry from what you'd call an "ordinary" school. I've really... come to an amazing place...I'm not getting in over my head, am I? I felt like a very small basculin lost in a very, very large ocean. I didn't feel prepared for this— though I doubt anyone could blame me. Now, you might think I'm blowing things out of proportion, but I'm not. Just look at the preparations I did last night:

I didn't do _anything_.

I should have, I know. It's not like there was a lack of information of the people attending. A dedicated thread on a certain online message board has been updating for weeks, but every time I tried to prepare myself, I got cold feet. I kept pushing it off further and further until I didn't have time to even glance at a single post. All I knew going into this was that this conference would be the most terrifying, stressful three days of my life. For as elitist and selective the process is to enroll in the academy... receiving an invitation to attend the conference was even harder.

Anyway, that aside, the real question is: how did a normal kid like me end up being selected to join the ranks of these elite people? To find your answer, you just need to glance at my admissions notice.

"The Bureau of the Conference of Interregional Progress has selected by lottery a single candidate from a pool of average citizens. Your name was chosen, and so we invite you to join us this year as the Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett."

It was luck, and nothing more. Even the title was condescending.

In all honesty, I should have declined. But there was no way I could- my mom was so excited for me, and my friends wouldn't let me hear the end of how lucky I was. Bianca babbled on about it for weeks, hardly letting me get a word in. Cheren was mad at first- he really should have been invited, not me. But in the end, he supported me. Them and my mom managed to convince me that maybe I wouldn't be so out of my element.

But standing there, with the school before my very eyes... I realized that I really was out of my league, without a doubt...

"I can't just... loiter outside of the gate forever..."

Mumbling to myself, I dropped my gaze to the conference schedule in my hand.

'_Conference attendees meet in the entrance hall for registration at 8:00 a.m.'_

There's still some time before we're scheduled to meet up, but... I guess I should get going.

After mustering together far more resolve than should be necessary for entering a building...

I headed towards the entrance hall.

"Well... here I am..."

It doesn't look like anyone else is here, though.

I looked at the entrance hall's gorgeous clock. 7:10, it said.

Registration doesn't start until 8:00, meaning I still had fifty minutes.

Of course no one else is here.

I was so nervous, I caught a train that was much too early. There was still plenty of time, and I really didn't feel like just standing here until then. Maybe I could wander a bit.

It might help me loosen up.

I mean, technically I'm allowed to be here, right? There shouldn't be a problem... right?

All I'm doing is killing some time.

Having convinced myself it wasn't such a big deal, I took my first step into the heart of Castelia Tech.

The first step, overflowing with hope for the days to come.

Or... that's how it was supposed to be.

However, the moment my foot touched the floor...

The world began to twist and spin... until finally it all blended together, melting like a CasteliaCone. Swirling and twirling and whirling and curling into a thick, syrupy, viscous pulp.

And the next second...

Darkness.

That was the beginning and the end of my everyday life. I should've realized it then. I wasn't there because I was the Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett. I was there because I was the Super High School Level Unlucky Ducklett.


	2. The Meowth in the Box is Dead (Act 1)

**CHAPTER ONE**

**[THE MEOWTH IN THE BOX IS DEAD]**

Touya let out a groan and shifted, feeling a hard wooden surface pressed uncomfortably against his face. There was a crick in his neck and the tips of his fingers were numb. His stomach was churning and his head was pounding and his eyes didn't want to open no matter how much her tried.

"Ugh..." he managed, his mouth dry. He lifted his head despite it feeling like it weighed a ton, and instantly the bright fluorescent lights of the room shone through his eyelids. He groaned again, finally managing to open his eyes. His vision was slow to unblur.

His first instinct was that he had dozed off in class again. But everything was just a little too different- the chair was a bit comfier, and the desk was a bit larger, and everything smelled a little more pristine.

As his eyes adjusted, more and more things stuck out as being... wrong. Security cameras of some sort hung from the ceiling, exuding a low hum that indicated they were active. _Castelia Tech_, Touya remembered, blearily blinking a few times and putting too much effort into keeping his head from lolling back down. _Must be... really secure..._

Forming coherent thoughts was proving to be difficult, as Touya's gaze drifted almost lazily around the room. He was in a classroom- an empty classroom, to be precise. Every desk and chair was neatly in perfect rows, facing forward towards the chalk board. Lights lined the ceiling above, illuminating what would otherwise be an uncomfortably dark room.

It took a moment after Touya's gaze settled on where the windows should be for the sheer wrongness of it all to kick in. Where there was supposed to be glass, there were instead heavy metal plates. Not a single ray of sunlight managed to pierce through it.

"What-" he started, getting up despite the way his body creaked and groaned in protest, as if he'd been sleeping for hours, if not days. He pressed his hands firmly against the metal and tried to push it aside, to no avail.

He yawned in spite of the current situation, looking over his shoulder to examine the room again. Neat and orderly- save for where he had been sleeping just a few short moments ago. The chair was kicked out far from the desk, which was slightly askew. And on top of the desk was a crumpled, folded piece of paper. He hadn't noticed it when he woke up.

The young man, slowly but surely getting reoriented with the world around him, took a few bounding steps back to the desk before snatching up what he discovered to be a practice. "Orientation Info?" he read aloud, scrutinizing the childish scrawl that made up the cover. It looked like it had been written in crayon- and by someone who didn't quite know how to hold one, at that.

'The conference has begun... Wait, scratch that. From here, a whole new life has begun for you bastards!'

Touya pursed his lips. "Cute," he said aloud in a way that betrayed the fact that he didn't find it cute at all, before crumpling the pamphlet into a ball. He proceeded to hesitate, smooth the pamphlet back out, fold it neatly in half, and pocket it.

Finally, he noticed the clock that hung above the chalkboard at the front of the room. It was nothing compared to the one that hung in the entrance hall, but it did its job of keeping time well enough- he'd assume, anyway. The clock read just about 8:00.

_That means I've... been here for almost an hour?_

Touya didn't like having to wait, but that didn't mean he wanted to be late. Especially not when everyone else would likely already be looking down at him.

Now almost entirely reoriented, Touya leapt towards the door, half-expecting to find it locked. He was pleasantly surprised to find that it swung open with a certain ease- more ease than he anticipated. The door slammed against the outside wall, a sound loud enough that it echoed in both directions. Touya winced. "Sorry," he whispered to no one in particular, shoulders scrunching up and blush staining his cheeks.

"As you should be," said a voice, soft and scolding all at once. Touya jumped and shouted in surprise, whipping around to locate the owner of the voice. He spotted her just as she spoke again- her tone drawling and elegant. "Causing such a ruckus... how uncouth."

Touya's lips hung open as he stared. Curtains of golden hair flowed behind her petite form, which was dressed in a simple, yet refined gown of pale pinks. The girl's ethereal presence was unmistakable, even if Touya had only seen her on television before. "L-la," Touya struggled, "L-l-la...!"

The young woman stepped closer to Touya, the only emotion showing on her face with a twitch of her brow. "Lady Caitlin, yes," she said, followed by a practiced curtsy. She offered him a courteous smile that didn't reach her eyes.

A strangulated sound escaped the back of Touya's throat, and he bowed his head with almost robotic movements. "L-lady Caitlin," he squeaked, hands trembling at his sides. Never in his life had he expected to be in the presence of one of Unova's Elite Four- let alone taking part in a conversation! Even if the conversation mostly was just him squeaking, it still counted for something, right? "My n-name," he began, voice cracking and the blush spreading to his ears. "Um, T-"

"Touya, yes," Caitlin finished for him, walking past him with light footsteps.

Touya, in turn, nearly fell over. His voice hitched in his throat. "Y-you know me?!" He couldn't believe it. He had never been recognized for anything before in his entire life! And now, Lady Caitlin of the Unova Elite Four was here, in person, knowing him and recognizing him-

"No," she said, not stopping her steps.

Touya's heart, which had leapt into his throat, dropped into the pit of his stomach. "Oh," he said. And only then did he think to follow her.

"But then-"

Before he could ask how she knew his name, she looked up at him with her wide, doll-like eyes. "Because I'm **an esper**."

**CAITLIN - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ESPER**

_Of course_, Touya thought. He may not have read up on the people who would be attending the conference, but he did have a certain knowledge of the Unova region's celebrities- and Lady Caitlin, of the Unova Elite Four, was no exception. She was a powerful psychic, and that power was only magnified by her strong connection with her psychic pokemon.

"That's cool," said Touya with a smile, trying to make some conversation to drive out the maddening silence that hung between the two of them. Caitlin's footsteps hardly made a sound as she walked beside him, her hands folded neatly in front of her.

"...Indeed," Caitlin replied, and she said nothing more.

The two of them reached an intersection and Caitlin turned right without thinking about it. "Do you know where we're going?" asked Touya.

It was hardly noticeable, but Caitlin hesitated, just for a moment. "No," she said. And then a moment later, she added, "there is, however, energy in this direction. And I do not wish to be marked tardy."

"Ah, that's right!" Touya exclaimed, jerking where he stood and walking a bit faster down the hallway, soon catching up with and passing the psychic. "Hey, we're heading to the entrance hall," Touya observed, before spinning around to address Caitlin as he walked backwards. "That means... hey, did you wake up here, too?"

For the first time, Touya saw some sort of expression cross the young woman's face. Her brow furrowed as if she were trying to remember something- or perhaps figure out how to deal with a commoner asking her such blunt questions- but within a moment her face was back to being as smooth as a porcelain doll's. "I suppose so, yes," she said after another moment's hesitation. "But I am surprised I was able to fall asleep. These chairs are horrid. Darach should have handled my personal arrangements."

"Darach?" Touya parroted, but Caitlin had turned her head to the side, gazing at the wall as she strolled past, and pointedly not responding to anything more that Touya had to say. "Um... alright, well, I'm gonna go on ahead, okay? I'll see ya around," Touya said awkwardly, hesitating for a moment to see if that would evoke any sort of response. But it appeared as if the esper really was lost in her own little world, now, as she didn't even acknowledge him. He did his best to hide his disappointment as he turned around. For a moment there, he thought he was actually making a friend- or a friendly acquaintance, at least.

But no, it looked like things were going to go exactly as predicted: none of these renowned, important people would want to bother with an average nobody like him. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and felt himself slouch. Even though he hadn't felt his pace quicken, he sensed the gap between himself and Lady Caitlin growing broader. And even though he heard a cacophony of voices growing more audible the further he walked, he couldn't help but feel completely alone.

He rounded the corner once more and, though his gaze was trained on the ground by this point, he saw a blur of white move out of the corner of his eye. He jerked back- even though he _heard_ the voices, and he knew to expect more people, he still managed to be caught off-guard. He looked up to see a tall man- at least a head taller than him- in a pristine lab coat, a lock of inexplicably blue hair circling his head.

"Ah!" the man greeted, smirking and pushing up his glasses, which glinted in the fluorescent lights above. "And here come some more."

"Uh, hello sir," Touya greeted, bowing quickly and stiffly in his direction. "I'm sorry I'm late, sir! It won't happen again, sir!"

Keeping his head bowed, Touya couldn't see the curious tilt of the head that the man gave him. "Oh?" the man asked, a hint of amusement in his tone. Touya quivered and shook- this man clearly looked like he was in charge, or at the very least an important person. But before the man could say anything else, a different voice entirely spoke up.

Or at least... Touya had to assume it was a voice.

It was squeaky, and loud, and spoken in such a thick accent that Touya could hardly recognize the noise as words at all. But before he could figure out what the voice had said, something hot and forceful had pushed on his shoulder, forcing him into standing upright. Touya's vision blurred momentarily, and all he saw were smears of primary colours- was he going to have to fight? He wasn't any good at fighting! He wasn't good at anything, really. He forced himself to blink hard, clearing his vision to see who- or what- had shoved him.

A little girl stood in front of him. Her hair was blue, tied in pigtails that formed a sharp angle and shot inexplicably skywards. Both of her hands were on her hips and a sloppy smirk was spread across her face. Touya blinked again to make sure he was seeing things correctly, as no girl of that size or of that cuteness should be capable of that much force- _or _that ridiculous noise he had heard before.

But then she opened her mouth, and all doubt was forgotten.

"'Ey, it's about time ya showed up, pally!" she said in a much-too-loud voice, reaching out and shoving him again, more gently this time. If Touya focused, he could make words out of the ridiculous mess of sounds pouring out of her mouth. "We's been waitin' fer _ages_, and ya t'ink you's just gonna come saunterin' in 'ere like ya own 'da whole damn place? Not on my watch, guy!"

She stepped forward, making Touya shuffle a step backwards. "W-woah, look, I-" he started, putting his hands up in front of him in a desperate attempt to show that he meant no harm. It wasn't that he was afraid of the girl; it was more that he was so _overwhelmed_. He suddenly found himself missing the company of Caitlin very much. Maybe it wouldn't be too late to turn around and join up with her again. Even uncomfortable silence was preferable to... whatever this girl was offering.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man in the lab coat move. He was leaning against the wall now, eyebrows raised and the corners of his lips turned upwards. "U-um, sir?" Touya called to him desperately. Maybe this girl wasn't supposed to be here? Touya knew that _he _certainly wouldn't have let her in.

The girl, who had been advancing, stopped in her tracks. "...You's callin' Aku 'sir'?" she asked, disbelief manifesting itself a moment later as a loud and shameless laugh. She gripped at her side with one hand and covered her mouth with the back of the other one, giving Touya ample time to be one-part offended and two-parts confused. "Ah, ah jeez...!" the pigtailed girl wheezed, trying to catch her breath. "Yeah, yeah, 'dat's a good one! Yeah, you's real funny, guy! I like ya! We's gonna be tight, you an' I!"

Touya didn't even fully have time to go from being confused at the girl's outburst to being terrified of the concept of being "tight" with her before she had snatched up one of his hands in both of hers, engaging him in a very enthusiastic and one-sided handshake. "'Da name's Kris, Kris Clarity, pride an' joy'a Johto! But ya can jus' call me 'da Supa' High School Level Know-It-All!"

**KRIS - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL KNOW-IT-ALL**

Touya was struck with disbelief- this girl didn't seem like she could be super high school level _anything_, let alone a know-it-all. With that horrible accent, he had a hard time believing that she could even properly grasp the English language.

The young man was still disoriented to the point of being unable to protest as the girl dragged him the short distance towards the lab coat-clad man. As they approached he stood up straight, adjusting his glasses again and casting a sweeping gaze over the two of them.

"And 'dis 'ere is Aku!" introduced Kris, smiling in the man's direction.

Now it was the man's turn to bow to Touya- he placed a gloved hand against his chest and bowed his head slightly, his golden eyes fluttering shut. "I am Akuroma," he introduced himself, his tone smooth and even and in direct contrast to Kris' wild and squeaky voice. "And I believe you're mistaken- I'm just attending this conference, like my cousin here, and presumably, yourself as well."

**AKUROMA - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SCIENTIST**

"U-um, yes," Touya said, nodding almost imperceptibly. _Maybe it's not so bad_, he forced himself to think. Sure, this girl was starting to scare him a little, and grate on his nerves, but she had already decided that they were friends, right? That had to count for something, right?

At that point, Akuroma's eyes snapped open and he straightened himself up, apparently noticing something behind Touya. "Ah, Lady Caitlin!" he greeted, about as warmly as his distant tone would allow. He brushed past Touya and Kris. "What a pleasant surprise!"

Touya's hand was starting to sweat from being in Kris' warm, tight grip for so long. "Oh, there's my friend Caitlin," he said meaningfully, making to pull his hand away. "I should go say hi-"

But it was almost as if Kris hadn't heard him, because she instead dragged Touya in the opposite direction, through a large doorway that Touya could already see other people through. He tried to cast a helpless glance over his shoulder at Caitlin, but couldn't manage to catch her gaze.

"C'mon, pally. Ya seem pretty hopeless, so I's gonna be real nice an' introduce ya ta 'da rest'a 'dese schmucks!" she announced. Touya felt eyes on him as he entered the large room- he recognized it as the entrance hall, although a large metal plate was blocking the entrance he had walked in earlier that day. There were about a dozen people scattered about, mostly keeping to small groups with a few notable exceptions. With his free hand, Touya self-consciously removed his cap, smoothed out his hair, and placed the cap back on his head. But that feeling of embarrassment didn't subside- in fact, he was pretty sure that the feeling of embarrassment stemmed from being dragged around by a loud and arrogant girl.

"Um, thank you, but-" Touya tried, doing his best to keep polite. It wasn't as if Kris was malicious, right? If she knew how uncomfortable he was, she would do something to change it, right?

"Ya see 'dat guy who kinda looks like a rattata?" she asked in a harsh whisper that was hardly quiet enough to be considered a whisper at all. She finally let go of Touya's hand to jab a thumb harshly in the mousey young man's direction. Touya was vaguely aware of what a rattata was- it was some foreign form of patrat- and he couldn't help but draw a few parallels as the man turned to look at the two of them. He wore a simple button-down top and his brown hair, though combed through, was still something akin to a rodent's nest.

"'Dat's Bill Nye, 'da Science Guy!" Kris said, before pausing and waiting for him to get the joke with a knowing smile. "Okay, y'got me, he ain't _really _Bill Nye 'da Science Guy! He's jus' Bill! He's most famous fer inventin' 'da Pokemon Storage System, but he's done a ton'a udda work, too!"

**BILL - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ENGINEER**

Kris waved at him, beckoning him over. Bill exchanged looks with the young, purple-haired woman he'd been sitting with, before rising to his feet and somewhat stiffly crossing the room towards the entrance. "H-hi there, Kris," he greeted, and Touya picked up traces of a different accent in this man's voice- but this accent was more southern, and much more preferable to whatever alien accent Kris had.

"Hey 'dere Billy Boy!" Kris greeted, finally letting go of Touya's hand entirely to give Bill a hard pat on the back, even though he was nearly a foot taller than her. Touya immediately wiped his sweaty hand on the side of his pants. He saw the purple-haired girl stand up the second that Kris made contact with him, her purple eyes trained on Bill like a braviary's. "We's got a straggler, so say hi!"

Bill's wide-eyed stare moved from Kris to Touya, as he was clearly out of his element and not necessarily used to interacting with so many people at the same time.

Touya took the initiative. "Hi Bill," he said, trying his best to keep his voice even and reassuring. "I'm Touya." Bill's brow furrowed slightly, and Touya added, "...Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett."

"Ah, alrighty then!" he said, evidently drawing some sort of connection in his brain. His face relaxed and his mouth even twitched into a smile. "It's a real pleasure ta meet ya. I'm Bill." Then he paused for a moment and clasped his hands behind his back, averting his gaze in an embarrassed fashion. "But I... guess y'already knew that, didn't ya? Sorry, my brain's just a'wanderin' today."

"Tch," Kris spoke up, stepping between Bill and Touya before the latter had a chance to respond. "Ya really came ta 'dis conference wit'cher brain wanderin'?!" she scolded, invading his personal bubble and making him meekly step back. "What's 'da matta', pally? I know's you's got more goin' on up 'dere 'dan _some_'a 'dese schmucks, so why you actin' like-"

"Kris."

A new voice spoke up, and both Touya and Kris whirled around to see the purple-haired girl was now in their immediate presence. Her gaze was purple, unwavering, and staring intently at Kris. The pigtailed girl, acquiring a new target, immediately spun towards her, allowing Bill time to take a few steps back and remember how to breathe.

"Yeah," she started, "whaddya want?"

Even though Kris was standing with her hands on her hips and her chest thrust out, the purple-haired girl didn't waver. She exuded preparedness and control. Her voice was steady and trained when she spoke: "leave him alone."

Kris' eyes narrowed. "Why should I?"

The girl's response was instant. "Because in case you haven't noticed, we're _locked in here_," she said, her voice gaining a certain edge the longer she spoke. "Most of us are trying to figure out what's going on, where our stuff's gone, and how to get out of here."

Kris' eyes narrowed even further, at this point nothing more that dangerous pin pricks of silver through her heavy eyelashes.

"Um, if ya don't mind me sayin'," Bill spoke up, hands still clasped behind his back and gaze trained intently on the floor by his feet, "we ain't havin' much luck. It'd probably go a lot better if we had the Super High School Level Know-It-All helpin' us out. Y'know... since yer so smart."

Kris, once again, completely spun away from the purple-haired girl, drawn to the compliment like a venomoth to a flame. "...yeah, jeez!" Kris admonished, "why didn't ya t'ink ta ask me _befo_'?! I would'a had errythin' figured out before Touyo here even showed up!"

"Um, it's Touya," Touya corrected.

"Yeah, yeah, same t'ing," Kris dismissed with a flippant wave of her hand.

"Touya?" the purple-haired girl asked, turning her gaze on him. Immediately the hardness of her eyes vanished. "Super High School Lucky Ducklett?"

"...Yeah?" Touya said, skeptical.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, all of the previous evenness in her tone having vanished. "I didn't recognize you from the forum, but I've heard about the random drawing- actually, my dad told me about it- and you don't look like anyone else from the thread, so I figured that it _had _to be you." She put a hand to her chest and bowed her head, her spiky ponytail almost brushing against Touya's face. "My name's Janine," she introduced, standing back up. "I'm here on account of being the Super High School Level Ninja."

**JANINE - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL NINJA**

"Oh!" Touya exclaimed. "Um, it's great to meet you! I've never met a real life ninja before!"

Janine smiled, side-eyeing him as she stood back up. "Sure you have," she said. "You just didn't notice."

Then, without warning, that hard edge to her voice was back as she spun back to Kris. "Are you going to help us or not?" she asked, forcing the pigtailed girl's attention back on her.

Kris, in turn, gained an equally hard edge as she retorted, "Yeah, jeez! Hold yer fuckin' horseas!" And then, like a veritable ninja herself, she grabbed Touya's arm in a swift motion and dragged him away from Janine and Bill. "I's gotta finish showin' Touyo around! He ain't gonna get nowhere if I don't show 'im 'da ropes!"

"Um, no, it's fine," Touya murmured, trying in vain to tug his arm free. "And it's Touya-"

"Nonsense!" Kris chirped, dragging him to the center of the entrance hall. People had mostly gone back to doing their own thing after Kris had dragged him inside, and only a few pairs of eyes took fleeting glances at him occasionally. "C'mon, we's gotta hurry 'dis up, I gotta get outta here! Only 'da important people, a'ight?"

Before Touya could respond, she snapped her head to the left and homed in on, presumably, an important person. "Like 'im!" she exclaimed, a warble in her tone as she zoomed across the entrance hall, heading directly for a group of two young men who didn't have time to move out of the way.

"Hi, Red!" Kris greeted, skidding to a halt only when she was practically toe-to-toe with him. The young man- presumably Red- was tall, with sleek black hair that fell in his crimson eyes. He stood with his lips parted slightly, looking down his nose at Kris, but not saying a word.

"'Dis is Red," she explained to Touya, her tone airy and breathless. "He's 'da Super High School Level Traina'! Ain't 'dat 'da coolest? Aw man, Red's _so cool_!"

**RED - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL TRAINER**

The man standing beside him- just slightly taller, with messy copper hair and a piercing green gaze- scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Not _this _again," he said to himself, but Kris ignored him. Red proceeded to look uncomfortable, and grabbed for the hem of the other man's shirt.

Touya, for his part, recognized the name. It was hard _not _to- he was the one who brought down the entire Team Rocket crime syndicate single-handedly. He then went on to become the Indigo League Champion, before climbing Mt. Silver one day, never to return. Even in Unova the news had been tracking his story, earning the mysterious Red quite a few fans, even in Touya's tiny hometown of Nuvema.

But he had never met a Red fan quite as enthusiastic as Kris. Nor had he ever really wanted to.

"Um, so, what are you doing down from Mt. Silver, Red?" asked Touya cautiously over Kris' incessant rambling, unsure if his questions would be welcome. Red turned his gaze to Touya, now, and Touya was overwhelmed by just how _tired _Red appeared. His eyes were dull and his face held absolutely no expression.

"Look, kid," the other young man spoke up, stepping forward as if to protect Red from the unwanted attention. "We're all pretty stressed, so why don't you make like a tree and leave?"

Had Touya not been so entirely overwhelmed, he might have tried to hold his ground against the green-eyed stranger. But the fact was that he was still reeling from the shock of this morning's events meant that all he wanted was to avoid any conflict that he could manage. "S-Sorry!" he stuttered, putting his hands up in front of him and stumbling backwards. "I didn't mean anything by it!"

"Hey, oy!" Kris butted in, and now it was her turn to step between Touya and the stranger. "Who d'ya t'ink you are, hotshot?" she demanded, her voice even louder than it had been before, making the rest of the entrance hall fall silent.

However, the green-eyed stranger matched Kris' aggression and took it in stride, leaning forward so their faces were mere inches apart. "The name's Green, kid," he sneered, smirking and tilting his head to the side. "Best known as the Viridian City Gym Leader."

"I _know _who ya are," Kris retorted without missing a beat. "'Dat was a rhetorical question, schmuck, 'cause _nobody cares_. Green Oak, grandson'a 'da esteemed Professa' Oak, and Champion'a 'da Indigo League fer a whole'a five minutes befo' 'da _true _Champion took his rightful seat on 'da t'rone."

**GREEN - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL PRIVILEGE**

"I'm warning you, kid," he growled, his voice caught in the back of his throat as he further bridged the gap between himself and the blue-haired girl.

"Watcha gonna do?" Kris goaded, a familiar sloppy smirk smearing across her face. "Cry at me? Go take ten and give 'da _real _Champion some breathin' room. He don't wanna be around ya, breathin' in yer loser air."

Red, who had remained silent all the while, tugged on the hem of Green's shirt. His own crimson gaze had darkened- something told Touya that it was _Kris _he didn't want to be around.

"Kris," he said, softly but urgently, grabbing for the sleeve of her cropped white jacket.

"Stay outta it, pal!" Kris barked, sounding more like a feral pokemon than a human. She whipped around, baring her serrated teeth and glaring at Touya with enough fury to make him step backwards. "Nobody's allowed ta make Red uncomfortable, a'ight? So erryone needs ta take t'ree big steps back, or I swear, it ain't gonna be pretty!"

"It's already not very pretty," said a feminine voice from behind Touya, and before he could turn around to see who had spoken, he saw all of the colour drain from Kris' face. Her eyes focused on something behind him and her mouth hung open, as if she couldn't find a word that she wanted to say. For the first time, Kris looked afraid.

Touya jerked his head around, guard raised- and froze. A small crowd of people- mostly ones that he hadn't met yet- had formed against the wall behind him, and from the depths of that crowd a girl was emerging. At first glance, he thought she was Kris- but no, the longer he looked at her, the more he noticed slight differences. There was a more gentle curve to her pigtails, not to mention that her hair was a much friendlier brown as opposed to an outlandish blue. She looked to be slightly older, and her face had sharper features, but looked overall much kinder.

Behind him, Touya could hear Kris' breathing become shallow and more labored. He made to turn around but already the newcomer was there, reaching out to grab Kris' hand. "Kris, are you okay? Maybe you should lie down," she said, her voice a sweet contrast to the blue-haired girl's grating tone.

In an instant Kris leapt into the air, letting out something akin to a yelp and a hiss at the same time. She tugged away from the brunette and fell to all fours, crouching low to the ground and backing up, almost as if she would move on all fours just as naturally. Touya watched her quiver and shake, her chest heaving with every shallow breath she took, and her eyes not daring to tear away from the newcomer's gaze.

"What's wrong?" the newcomer asked, that defining cheeriness in her voice not entirely replaced by concern. The rest of the room had remained silent continued to watch the commotion. The brunette stepped forward again, crouching down in front of Kris with her elbows on her knees, as if she were addressing a pokemon.

Kris didn't respond though- with nostrils flaring, she scampered backwards, shaking like a leaf and trying to work her mouth in a way that would produce words. "W-what," she managed, only a shred of her gusto remaining, "what 'da _fuck _are _you _doin' here...?!"

Had Touya looked carefully, he would have seen tears welling up in Kris' eyes, threatening to spill over as she cowered like a veritable pokemon. However, he was much more intrigued by the sudden appearance of someone who could not only tame Kris, but send her into such a submissive state. There didn't seem to be anything special about the brunette- she had a pretty face, sure, but Kris hardly seemed the sort to take something like _that _into account.

The newcomer paused and cocked her head to the side, drawing a finger up to her bottom lip. "Oh? I got an invitation, silly! Just like you!" She laughed- a much more pleasant laugh than Kris had- before gesturing to herself. "The Super High School Level Social Butterfree- that's me!"

"What's the matter?" Green spoke up, pulling free of Red's grasp and moving forward, looming over Kris with a smirk on his face. "A little bit _scared_?" Kris scurried out from beneath his shadow, losing a bit of her grace on all fours as she stumbled over her crossed arms. But she never dropped eye contact with the brunette. It was as if Kris was staring death in the face and couldn't look away.

"No," Kris exhaled, but it was more to herself than a response to Green's question. She started moving backwards, repeating that single word under her breath with increasing frequency, until she stumbled to her feet. She'd broken into a cold sweat and was almost entirely out of breath.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME," was the last thing she managed to shout, pointing a finger accusingly at the brunette- and even then, her shout wavered and her voice cracked, before she turned and sprinted, stumbling onto all fours every so often. Nobody dared to speak a word until her hasty, uneven footsteps had disappeared entirely down the hall.

Slowly, Touya turned his gaze back to the newcomer. Her hand was covering her mouth, now, and the girl looked utterly downcast. "Oh dear," she sighed, brow furrowed as she stared after Kris. "I really upset her, didn't I?"

"Hell yeah you did," Green agreed, still smirking. He ran a hand through his unkempt hair and approached the newcomer, holding up a hand for her to high five- which she responded to by meekly slapping her hand against his own, accompanied by a nervous laughter.

"Should I... should I go talk to her?" she asked, casting a sweeping gaze past the crowd of people before making a hesitant step in the direction that Kris had fled.

"NO," said just about everyone.

"Oh!" gasped the girl, and a nervous smile crept across her face. "Are you sure?"

"YES," said just about everyone.

"Oh... okay, then!" She laughed, turning to look up at Touya with those big brown eyes of hers. "I'm so sorry about that," she apologized. "Kris just... I don't know why, but it's like she hates me."

Touya stared at her incredulously. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, clasping his hands together in front of his chest. "You _probably _saved my life just now!" If he was a little less reserved, he might have actually gotten down on his knees and bowed down to her right then and there.

The girl giggled, bringing a hand to her cheek to hide the traces of a blush. "Oh, no, stop it! Really, I'm awful... she's such a poor girl..." the girl trailed off, her lower lip trembling as her gaze trailed downward. God, Kris was making people cry and she wasn't even here!

"Hey... hey, don't cry!" Touya started, crossing the distance to stand in front of her. "Come on... don't worry about her, she deserved it... whatever it was." In fact, Touya was still a bit confused as to what had happened, but he wasn't about to complain. The brunette sniffled and looked up at Touya, opening her mouth to protest. "And don't you dare say she didn't!" he continued, catching her off guard.

The girl's open mouth twisted into a smile and she giggled again, despite herself. "Haha... you read me like a book!" She bit her lip before smiling up at Touya "My name's Lyra, by the way," she said, "Super High School Level Social Butterfree!"

**LYRA - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SOCIAL BUTTERFREE**

"What about you?" she asked.

"Oh, me? I'm Touya. Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett," he replied with as much pride as he could muster with such a title.

Lyra didn't seem to find anything wrong with it, though- in fact, she seemed absolutely tickled pink. "That means we're both pokemon!" she chirped, clasping her hands together in delight. "If that's not a sign, I don't know _what _is! Hey... if you still want someone to show you around, I could probably help out. You know... if my title's anything to go by."

Things were finally looking up. Everyone was starting to disperse back to their individual groups. Kris was still nowhere to be found. So Touya smiled, nodded, and said, "Sure!"

"Alright!" Lyra cheered, grabbing for Touya's hand much more gently than Kris had. "Okay, first off... you've already met Red and Green. Hm..." she scanned the entrance hall for a new face. "Ah! You see those two over there, the rugged guy and the one in the suit?"

Following the discreet gesture of Lyra's head, he saw two men standing apart from everyone else, talking to each other with very little room between them. "Yeah," Touya said. The taller one also had blue hair, but it was light to the point of almost being silvery, not unlike his pristine white suit, complete with an emblem on his shirt pocket that was unreadable from the distance.

"The tall one's Archer," Lyra whispered, "and the shorter one's Proton." The shorter one was not all that much shorter, but stood with a slouch. He, in contrast to Archer, was wearing a uniform of sorts that was almost entirely black, accented with stripes of yellow. He was scrappy in appearance, striking Touya immediately as the sort who would pick fights- and the sort that he wouldn't want to end up in a fight with.

"They look like they're up to no good," observed Touya, and indeed, the way that Proton kept glancing over his shoulder and shifting his weight around gave that very impression.

Lyra nodded. "Yeah, get this- I heard they're members of Team Rocket!"

Touya jumped, looking at the two already suspicious men in a whole new light. Coupled with news about Red's heroism, tales of Team Rocket had spread far. "No," he said in disbelief.

"Yes!" Lyra assured.

"What are they doing here? Surely they can't have been _invited_!"

"That's the thing!" Lyra continued, "they _were_! Archer's the Super High School Level Cold Blood, and Proton's the Super High School Level Sadist. It said so right on the forums!"

**ARCHER - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL COLD BLOOD**

**PROTON - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL SADIST**

At their names alone, Touya gulped. "They don't sound very friendly," he mumbled, tugging at the collar of his jacket.

"Yeah, no kidding," Lyra agreed.

"U-um," excuse me," said a quiet voice. Touya and Lyra turned around to see a trembling girl with pale pink hair.

"Yes?" asked Lyra.

"Well, I, um... I saw the way you stood up to that girl before..." she mumbled, looking intently at her own two feet as she spoke. "I, I... um, I, uh, I just wanted to say... that was super brave of you!" She bowed low, her entire face being hidden beneath the wide brim of her white hat.

Lyra laughed, scratching the back of her head. "Oh, no, really, it was nothing! Haha, I was just trying to be nice!"

The pink-haired girl was still shaking, but at least she was smiling as she stood back up straight. "W-well, whatever you did, thank you!" she said, her voice still soft and airy. But that smile... something about it seemed familiar.

"Hey... what's your name?" Touya asked. It wasn't inconceivable that he would run into somebody famous in this entrance hall- after all, he had already run into a gym leader, a Champion, and a member of the Unova Elite Four.

"U-um, I'm Yancy," stuttered the pink-haired girl. "Super High School Level... B-Baker!"

**YANCY - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BAKER**

Well, that didn't do Touya any good. He never really watched those cooking channels, but he still felt like he knew the girl from somewhere.

"N-no!" she exclaimed no more than a second later. "I mean, uh... Super High School Level... S-Super High School Level... T-Taste Tester? No... Super... Um..." Her already wide eyes went wider before she squeezed them shut. "I, um... I don't remember!" she finally squeaked, crossing her arms in front of her and squeezing her eyes shut.

**YANCY - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ?**

Lyra laughed nervously, stepping back to stand a little closer to Touya. "Well... that's okay!" she tried to reassure her.

"Yeah!" Touya chimed in, doing his best to mimic Lyra's cheeriness. If a social butterfree could manage so well amongst all of these celebrities, then why couldn't a lucky ducklett? "We're all a little stressed out from, uh... whatever's going on... so it's completely okay. Take your time!" And then he smiled at Yancy, doing his best to come across as nothing but benign.

"I'm sorry, I have to go!" squeaked Yancy, before she pulled the brim of her hat as far down as she could and ran the opposite direction.

Touya deflated.

That didn't work out well at all.

"...oh," Touya vocalized, his shoulders sagging. He supposed that he was the Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett, and not the Super High School Level Social Butterfree, for a reason.

"Oh, don't worry about it!" Lyra said, chipper as always. "You're probably right. The stress is just getting to everybody! I mean... waking up in a scary dark school when you're supposed to be going to a conference... it gives me the creeps!"

Touya perked up. "You woke up here, too?"

Lyra nodded her head, accompanied by a verbal, "Mmhmm," followed by a breathy, "everyone did. Pretty rude, if you ask me."

"Rude?" Touya repeated. He could think of a few words to describe the situation- bizarre, creepy, downright mental- but 'rude' was not one of them.

"Yeah, rude!" Lyra huffed. "Pulling some sort of prank on us like that... when we're supposed to be these super special guests at this prestigious conference, or whatever it is! Some guy in charge has got a terrible sense of humour." She sniffed, a pout crossing her face.

"Hey, Lyra!" called a voice- Touya recognized it as Janine's, and the two of them turned to face the purple-haired girl. She was standing by the large metal plate that blocked the door, along with Bill and two other faces that Touya didn't recognize. "Come here for a sec!"

Immediately the pout washed away from Lyra's face and she glanced up at Touya. "Alright, let's go introduce you!" she said with a practiced grin.

Touya nodded. "I already know Bill and Janine, though," he said as she led him over there. Her only response was a nod.

"What can I do you for?" Lyra asked as she slowed to a stop, joining the group. The two men in the group- Bill, and a younger boy with piercing red eyes and a mess of dark blue hair- were bickering, and it came as a surprise for Touya to hear Bill speak up.

"I don't care _what _you say- you're taking too long!" shouted the stranger. "If you're the Super High School Level Engineer, then why isn't this wall _down yet_?!"

"Look, I reckon this here contraption's a mighty fine piece of work," replied Bill. "We can't jus' go bashin' our heads against it and hopin' it'll work out!"

"At least that might _get us somewhere_!" snapped the stranger, and without warning he drew his hand back, clenched it into a fist, and punched the metal, hard.

A loud, metallic _clang _rang out through the entrance hall, followed a moment later by the boy's colourful vocabulary of cuss words.

"Y'happy now, stretch?" mumbled Bill, barely audible over the sound of the passionate swearing.

"God dammit, Hugh," muttered a girl that Touya didn't recognize- her striking white hair was pulled into a high, spiky ponytail, showing off her pale blue eyes and her freckled face. "Not _again_." She was short- maybe even shorter than Kris- and Touya recognized her distinctive appearance immediately. "Hey, Lyra," she said, turning to face the brunette. "Can ya do something about those two before they up and kill each other?"

"Oh, gosh, guys," Lyra laughed good-naturedly. "I'll do my best, but I don't know if I can do _that _much!" She stepped between the two men, placing a hand on each of their chests to keep them apart.

"You're Homika, aren't you?" asked Touya.

The freckled girl raised an eyebrow in Touya's direction. "Yeah," she said curtly. "Who's askin'?"

Touya decided to ignore the harsh tone- after all, he knew at least a little about her. "I'm Touya, Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett. I'm from Nuvema Town! "

"Ah!" Homika exclaimed in recognition. "You're all the way on the other side of the region, right? Never been there m'self. Too small for concerts." She grinned and looked skyward for a moment, before her gaze snapped back to Touya's. "You a fan?" Touya nodded he head enthusiastically, and Homika let out a bout of appreciative laughter. "I guess I don't have to tell ya what I'm here for, then do I?"

"Nah, I've got a pretty good idea," Touya said.

**HOMIKA - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ROCK STAR**

"Hugh, your hand's practically turning purple..." Touya overheard Lyra say.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body!" Hugh chanted, although he was still wincing and holding his wounded hand. "I have to get us out of here!"

"And _that _idiot," said Homika, stepping up next to Touya, "is Hugh. Super High School Level Vigilante."

**HUGH - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL VIGILANTE**

"But if you ask me, Super High School Level Dumbass would fit better," Homika chuckled. Touya didn't exactly have any means to protest, so he chuckled too.

And that was everyone- with that, Touya had acquainted himself, at least second-handedly, with everyone in the entrance hall. By now Caitlin had joined the crowds, standing alone by the entrance and showing no interest in moving. Kris never returned to the entrance hall, and as far as he could tell, Akuroma never even set foot inside, but Touya was just fine with that: he didn't have any particular beef with the scientist, but if he was related to Kris in any way, he was more than certain that he wanted nothing to do with him.

He was just about to turn back to check on Lyra when a voice called across the entrance hall. "We're back, everyone!" And Touya froze.

"About time!" Hugh shouted, forgetting his argument with Bill and bolting for the two individuals that had just walked in from the hallway. He stopped just a short distance in front of them, but he still shifted his weight from one foot to the next impatiently. "Did you find anything?!" he demanded.

"No, nothing," said the man in the duo- his hair was tea green and long, tied in a messy ponytail that cascaded down his back. He spoke fast and appeared uncomfortable at Hugh's closeness. But it was hard for Touya to even pay attention to the green-haired man- his gaze was trained on the brunette that stood by his side.

"Ugh, then we _wasted our time_!" shouted Hugh, stomping his foot. "We could've been _out of here _by now if you two hadn't wandered off!"

"Look, Hugh, I get it, you wanna figure out what's going on just like _everyone _else," said the brunette- her long, wavy hair was also tied back in a ponytail, woven through her pink-and-white cap that matched Touya's. "We went off to see if there was a back door- and there _is _one, but it's got another metal plate over it, so we're screwed there, too. Hey, Bill, any luck figuring out that door?"

At this point the girl's gaze traveled over to where Touya stood. He watched her scan the crowd for Bill. He watched her notice him, move past him, and then, just when Touya's heart was about to shatter, her brilliant blue eyes snapped back to him.

"Touya?!" she called, a huge grin spreading across her face. She charged in Touya's direction, not even stopping until after she had already come toe-to-toe with him, resulting in the two of them stumbling and falling against the metal plate.

But Touya couldn't even complain about his head hurting, because Touko was here, attending the conference, and she _recognized him_.

"What are you doing here?!" she asked excitedly, making no move to get up and instead keeping him awkwardly pinned against the metal- and Touya didn't even _mind_.

"Touko, I-" he started, but his voice cracked. "Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett!" he announced, and in that moment, he really _was _the luckiest ducklett alive. "What about you?"

"Super High School Level Athelete, man!" she replied.

**TOUKO - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL ATHELETE**

"But aw man, bro, that's awesome!" Touko cheered, playfully punching him in the arm before stepping back so he could get up. Only when Touya did, brushing his shoulder against hers, did he blush at the close proximity. "Dude, I don't care _what's _going on- I am _so hyped _for this conference now!"

From somewhere beside him, Touya heard Lyra go "tch," but before he could respond, the green haired man had approached, tailing along behind Touko swiftly and silently. "Your cheeks are flushed," he observed, pressing the back of his hand against Touya's cheek. "You might be coming down with a fever."

Touya went tense at the bad touch, vocalizing something akin to "waugh," but not being sure what exactly to do. This stranger had come between him and Touko, and was utterly shameless about it. "U-um, hey," he tried to protest, but instead the man leaned in close and looked Touya intently in the eye.

"Are you a pokemon trainer?" he asked swiftly, and waited for only a brief moment- not nearly enough time for Touya to respond in the negatory- before he continued on. "You look an awful lot like Touko," he observed. Then he reared back, craning his head to look back at the brunette. "Touko, who is this?"

Touko, in turn, laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of her neck. "Ahaha... that's Touya, N. He's a... a friend of mine, and I don't... _thiiiiink _he's a pokemon trainer? Unless something's changed?"

_A _friend?

"No," said Touya, because in his overwhelmed state he couldn't think to say anything more eloquent. "Nothing's changed."

When Touko left all those months ago to embark on her pokemon journey, Touya had stayed behind. 'It's not really my thing,' had been his reasoning, and even though Touko had protested, in the end she set off on her own. She had promised to keep in touch via X-Transceiver, but after the first few nightly calls, they suddenly became more and more spread apart, and more and more brief. And before Touya knew it, Touko wasn't calling at all.

"I see," said N, and just like that he stepped back, circling back around Touko like some sort of watch dog. "Yes, there is definitely a different feel to him," he mused, still talking very fast. "He would be just like every other trainer; I'm sure of it." Then his long strides took him right back to Touya, and he removed his own black and white cap and bowed. "Thank you, Touya; you recognized your inadequacy as a trainer and scarified your menial journey for the sake of my friends. You are exactly the type of person that I hope will lead this new world!"

Touya stared, even more overwhelmed than before. "...buh," he said, slowly turning to look to Touko for an answer to one of his countless questions, which had all arisen in the past two minutes.

"Ehehe," Touko laughed. "Uh... Touya, this is N," she introduced. "He's here as the Super High School Level Pokemon Whisperer."

**N - SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL POKEMON WHISPERER**

"I, uh... I see," said Touya, scooting to the side and away from the still-bowing N. _What a name_, he thought, but didn't say anything. Mostly because he was more conscientious than certain other blue-haired people, but also because Lyra took it upon herself to speak up first.

"Wow, Touya!" she said, catching him as he slunk along the wall. "I didn't know you knew _Touko_! That's so cool- and you two look so much alike! Are you twins?"

Touko rolled her eyes good-spiritedly, and Touya was hit with a wave of nostalgia. He remembered people back in Nuvema Town being baffled by their differing surnames- in fact, their exact _opposite _surnames, Touya Black and Touko White. Ever since they were little, they'd been believed to be siblings, if not twins. But they weren't related, even distantly- and their uncanny similarities in appearance became one of the great mysteries of Nuvema. (Some of the other great mysteries were how Cheren could comfortably wear those skinny jeans, and Bianca, but that's neither here nor there.)

"Aw, not _this _again," Touko mock-groaned, the smile on her face betraying her amusement. "Nah, we just grew up next to each other! There's gotta be something in the water, for both of us to grow up looking this gorgeous." And with that, she reached over, grabbing Touya by the shoulder and wrangling him in, positioning his face right next to hers for comparison. "See? _Gorgeous_."

Lyra clapped her hands and laughed. "That's amazing!" she lauded.

"Uh, Touko." Bill spoke up, stepping forward. "About the door."

"Right, right!" Touko pulled away, leaving Touya to stumble as he regained his balance. "What's the verdict, bro?"

Bill's gaze shifted downwards. "Ah can't even figure out where ta start," he admitted. "Ah'm mighty sorry."

Touko sighed lightly. "Drat," she said. "Well, no worries. We'll just have to keep trying!"

"Don't be absurd," sounded Caitlin, as she approached with nearly silent footsteps. "We are quite the talented group. If these doors were meant to be opened, we would have opened them by now."

A heavy silence hung over the small group, as each individual struggled to find something to say.

"I concur," said N. He had managed to approach without being noticed, which was quite the feat considering his outlandish hair colour and his astounding height. "There will always be a solution to the puzzle. If there isn't a solution, then the pieces have not been uncovered in their entirety." He tilted his head towards Touko, smiling at her. "We will solve the puzzle when it is meant to be solved. No sooner, and no later."

And just as N spoke those words- just as everyone's nerves began to calm- it began.

_Ding dong, ding dong._

A chime played, sounding all around the entrance hall. And just as suddenly as the chime had played, the harsh sound of feedback echoed around the room, loud enough for Touya and a few others to press their hands to their ears. "Aaaah- aaaah-" said a voice that Touya didn't recognize. "Mic test, mic test! This is a school announcement!"

As the new voice spoke, the feedback petered out, allowing for the voice to be heard more clearly. It was a light, carefree voice that didn't fit the environment in the slightest. It was unnerving, like the echo of laughter at the scene of a crime.

The voice poured in from the speakers, positioned at all four corners of the entrance hall. "Ehh, can they hear me?" it proceeded to ask. "Is this thing on? Pat, pat!"

Muffled sounds of the stranger presumably hitting the microphone sounded through the room, as people hesitantly removed their hands from their ears. "Ehh... in any case," continued the voice, "attention all conference attendees! We would like to begin with opening remarks, so please gather in the conference room as soon as possible." The announcement rang out around the room as the voice went silent for a moment, before adding, almost as an afterthought, "And with that, I welcome you all!"

And then the speakers shut off, leaving those in the entrance hall in silence. Touya exchanged glances with Touko, who, in turn, exchanged glances with N.

"Well?" called Hugh impatiently. "Let's get moving!" And before anyone could even respond, he took off down the hallway.

Lyra smiled, clasping her hands in front of her chest. "Called it! I _knew_ it was a prank," she announced. "I guess I just have a knack for these things." She looked over her shoulder at Touya. "We should get going, shouldn't we?" she invited, gesturing for him to follow.

"I'll, uh, meet you there in a little bit," Touya said. Lyra held his gaze for a short moment, almost as if she might have been challenging him- but then she blinked and shifted her gaze towards the other members in the group.

"Haha, alright," she laughed. "Anyone else wanna come with?"

Bill and Homika peeled away with Lyra, talking amongst themselves in hushed whispers. "Don't be a slowpoke, okay?" Lyra called before turning back to leave. Touko shifted, brushing her shoulder against Touya's, wordlessly expressing that she was going to wait, too.

"Wh-why is everyone leaving so quickly...?" Yancy stuttered, her voice high pitched and distressed as she tugged and twisted the hem of her shirt nervously. She went unanswered.

"Come along, Proton," said a voice, bored and uninterested. Touya saw a blur of white move past him, followed shortly after by a blur of black. Archer and Proton had finally moved from their corner, it seemed.

"Keh!" scoffed Proton as he followed behind Archer, slightly slouched with his hands thrust in his pockets. He spat on the ground as he walked, cast a hateful glare around the room, and disappeared down the hallway after Archer.

Across the room, Red was staring after the two Rockets with such hatred that Touya could practically feel it radiating off of him, even from this great distance. He scowled, his shoulders hunched, his raven hair falling in front of his eyes.

Green tugged his shirt free from Red's grip, which had tightened considerably when the Rockets passed. "I'm going on ahead," he said, more to Red than to anybody else. He put on a practiced, confident smirk and strolled towards the hallway. "Smell ya later," he said, saluting with two fingers as he bid farewell.

An almost inaudible pitter-patter of footsteps sounded as Yancy took off, skittering after Green. "W-wait, please, I'm coming too!" The brunet didn't slow to wait for her.

Those left in the entrance hall were split into two clear groups, if you could call them that. Touya, Touko, N, Janine, and Caitlin stood mostly clumped together by the large metal plate, while Red stood by his lonesome on the far side.

"This doesn't seem right," muttered Janine.

"Yeah," Touko agreed. "This is weird. It's like it's the same thing for everyone..."

"You, too?" Touya asked.

"Yeah," Janine nodded. "Right when I got in the entrance hall, I fell asleep, or something. Then I woke up in a classroom, all of my stuff was gone, and all I had to go by was a note talking about the conference."

"Wait-" Touya started, his left hand instantly reaching for his right wrist. His eyes widened as he realized that his X-Transceiver was no longer there. His mom was going to _kill _him if he lost that thing! His bag was also gone, as well as everything that he had stored in his pockets. "Where's my stuff?!"

Touko cast him a sympathetic look and shrugged. "I don't know," she said apologetically. "All of my stuff's gone... my pokemon, too..."

N and Caitlin seemed calm- N's calmness exuded confidence, while Caitlin's seemed to stem more from her indifference. "It's liberation, Touko," said N, circling outside the group to place a hand on her shoulder. "This conference is for _progress_, is it not? Thus, it's only logical for us to embrace the way of the new world."

Touya blinked hard in N's direction. "...oooor, we could have been robbed blind," he suggested.

"Maybe they just don't want battles going on during the conference?" Janine suggested, furrowing her brow. "But that wouldn't explain the rest of our stuff... hm..."

"Whatever the case," Caitlin spoke up, her hands still folded neatly in front of her, "we'll learn nothing if we remain here. I propose that we listen to that announcement and proceed to the conference hall."

Caitlin's tranquility was almost contagious enough to calm Touya's sinking, racing heart- _almost_. "I guess," he agreed weakly. After all, it wasn't like he had any better ideas.

Just like earlier, Caitlin's lips curled into a practiced smile. "Then let us go," she said.

The ragtag group started towards the hallway. "Hey, Red," Touko called. Touya turned to look back at the silent trainer- he had honestly forgotten that Red was even still in the room. The trainer stirred when his name was called. He flexed his hands and looked up, quirking an eyebrow in a silent question.

"We're all heading to the conference hall," Touko explained, indicating the group with a broad gesture. "Wanna come?"

Red seemed to weigh his options for a moment- his crimson gaze traveled skyward as he thought, before he nodded and joined the group with a few long strides.

"Champion Red," Caitlin addressed as he approached, and she bowed her head in his direction. "It is truly an honour."

Red tilted his head forward, just slightly, and said nothing.

"Alright," Touko announced, making her way to the front of the group. "The conference room was right by the school store, right?" N nodded in the affirmative. "Cool. Then I'll lead the way!"

Despite Touko's enthusiasm, Touya was still left feeling uneasy. Yes, he was reunited with Touko. And yes, he was feeling more at ease around these Super High School Level conference attendees than he had anticipated. But the oddities surrounding the situation suffocated any excitement that he might have otherwise felt.

His feet carried him with the crowd in silence, and before he knew it, Touko had led them to a pair of grand doors. "Non Progredi est Regredi" was engraved along the top of the doorway, shimmering with hints of gold.

The group slowed to a stop. "Well... here we are," said Touko. Her enthusiasm had diminished considerably. If Touya didn't know her any better, he would think that she even sounded... meek. "But it... didn't feel this suffocating, before..."

"I guess we should go in, huh?" said Janine.

"To not go forwards is to go backwards," said N.

"Well said," said Janine.

N cast her a sidelong glance. "It's what's written above the doors," he explained. "Though I suppose the sentiment _does _have merit."

The sentiment did nothing to inspire Touya. His feet were rooted firmly to the ground, his gaze trained on the doorknobs in front of him, his hands shoved in his pockets. "It's so... depressing, isn't it?" he asked to no one in particular. "For Hope's Academy, I thought it would be... brighter."

He was caught off guard as somebody reached for his hand, tugging it out of his pocket and entwining his fingers with hers. "Whatever's going on," said Touko, brushing her arm against his and giving his hand a firm squeeze, "they're right. We've just gotta press on. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, right?"

Touya swallowed to wet his dry throat. "Right," he agreed, trying his best to sound as sure as she did. But the fact of the matter was that he was still engulfed in uneasiness and fear.

"Let's proceed," suggested Caitlin, and the crowd parted to allow her to approach the doors. She brushed past Touya, not even bothering to glance in his direction. She stopped in front of the doors, her gown billowing around her as she stood still for a long moment, her hands folded in front of her. "...No, don't get up," she said after a while. Was that a bite of sarcasm Touya heard in her usually controlled tone? "I'll get it."

The young man felt a strange sort of energy ripple through the air as Caitlin reached for the door, opening it with too much ease for its size and bulk. A cacophony of whispers and murmurs rushed out the door along with a blast of cool air. Touya instinctively squeezed Touko's hand.

Caitlin entered the room first, followed by Janine, then Red, and then, after a moment's hesitation, N. "We're the last ones," Touko said softly. "Let's go."

And with that, despite all of the uneasiness and fear, and despite his heart pounding in his chest, and despite the fact that Touya wanted nothing more than to go back to his small hometown of Nuvema, the two of them entered the conference room.


	3. The Meowth in the Box is Dead (Act 2)

Touya had been prepared for anything when he set foot inside the conference room. He had steeled himself in preparation for any curveball that could be thrown at him.

But when he entered the conference room, there was nothing out of the ordinary. And that caught Touya off-guard more than any curveball possibly could have.

Two rows of eight ornate armchairs were lined up, all facing a large podium that spread across the entirety of the far side of the large room. Although most people had evidently opted to stand, a few people had taken a seat. Caitlin sat in the chair closest to the door, her hands folded on her lap and her head tilted back with her eyes closed. Green sat with both of his arms slung lazily over the back of the chair, right next to Lyra who was leaning over the arm of her chair to engage in some sort of conversation with him.

Everyone else was standing, and as Touya gave the room a quick, preliminary sweep, he noticed that both Akuroma and Kris had joined back up with the group. His lip twitched in a weak scowl, but he really didn't know what else he expected.

"Ha!" Touko exclaimed, clasping her hands together in front of her. "It really _is _just boring old opening remarks!"

Touko flashed Touya a relieved smile, one that made Touya's heart skip a beat. "Y-yeah," he agreed, and he found himself smiling, too. "Yeah! Haha!"

"Hey, hey, is that everyone?"

As if to purposely highlight just how incorrect Touya and Touko had been, the high-pitched voice from earlier sounded again. This time it didn't come from the speakers, although the speakers _did _mark the corners of this room as well. Rather, this time the voice came from the direction of the podium, spoken loud enough that the room went quiet in nearly an instant.

"Yes!" announced Hugh.

"Upupu... then let's get started!"

Without warning, a black and white _thing _shot forth from behind the podium, tucking into a ball in midair and somersaulting once before landing neatly on all fours, directly in the middle of the podium. It was small, hardly a foot tall. But the most notable trait of the creature was that it was split down the middle- its right side was white and friendly-looking, with the exception of black fur that tipped its two white paws. But its left side was the opposite; it was black, with a jagged red eye and sinister smirk taking over its face. It had a ruff of white fur around its neck, a white, bushy tail, and a tuft of white fur with black at the tip that sat on top of its head.

"Fascinating," Akuroma exhaled.

"A zorua?" N asked, alarmed.

"A pokemon!" Kris exclaimed in recognition.

"I'm more than that," said the thing, "I'm Monorua- and furthermore, your- ehh, this school's- headmaster!"

Yancy shrieked.

"It talked!" Bill shouted, stumbling backwards in shock. "Th-the toy talked!"

"Toy?" Monorua repeated, bringing its white paw to its mouth as it tilted its head to the side, blinking its normal eye innocently.

"Aw, c'mon," Green scoffed, sounding remarkably calm in spite of the current situation. "It's just some fancy doll with a speaker in it. Big deal."

"_Doll?!_" Monorua repeated, before springing to its hind legs in a swift and fluid motion, flailing its front paws about. "I am not a toy! I am Monorua! Mo - No - Ru - A!"

"Friend," N called, approaching the podium and addressing the creature directly. "Why are you speaking in human tongue, when you have such a lovely language of your own?"

Monorua stopped mid-flail. "Ehh?" it asked, turning its head to stare at N, who stopped shortly in front of the podium. "_Ehh?_"

A friendly smile spread across N's face. "I don't know how you learned to speak our language," he said, "but it's okay! You don't have to put yourself through discomfort in order to be understood." He removed his hat and put it to his chest, bowing his head to the pokemon. "My name is N, and I will be able to relay your message to these humans who cannot understand!"

"Is this guy for real?" Touya asked, bewildered.

"I'm... not entirely sure myself," Touko admitted.

Monorua dropped back down to all fours, stepping over to be where N stood. The green-haired man placed his cap back on his head before he lowered his head once more. "That's it," he cooed. "Don't be shy... just tell me what you want everyone to hear."

A moment of silence followed, stretching on for an eternity. N's expression had only just begun to turn puzzled when the creature lunged forward, bashing its head against N's. "I am NOT A POKEMON!" it yelled, turning around to bat N with it tail before it leapt off of the podium and landed on the floor in front of the rows of chairs, causing a few people to scatter.

"You're all hurting my feelings, you know," Monorua pouted, sitting back on its haunches and licking a paw before grooming the tuft on its head. Then he tilted his head back as if he were going to howl before shouting, "Show some respect for your headmaster, you bastards!"

"Hey, hey," Lyra chimed in, leaning forward in her seat. "Didn't you just say you were the _school's _headmaster? And we're, like... not actually attending the school, so does it really count?"

Monorua cocked its head in Lyra's direction. "What, you want to call me conferencemaster?" it asked. "That's a mouthful!"

Lyra laughed good-naturedly, leaning back in her chair. "Good point! Haha, okay, _headmaster_," she continued, putting heavy emphasis on the title. "Can we get to those opening remarks?"

"Yes!" Monorua shouted, leaping up and doing another mid-air somersault before landing gracefully, once again on all fours. "If we're going with 'headmaster', better make it count!" It said to itself, before coughing into its paw, evidently clearing its throat, and speaking in a loud voice. "Stand! Bow! Good morning, you bastards!"

Touya stood stock-still, as did most people in the group. But a few heads still bowed on Monorua's command.

"G-good morning!" Yancy squeaked, bowing so quickly that her hat almost fell off.

"Good morning," Akuroma said, a hint of amusement in his voice, as he bowed his head towards the creature.

But what surprised most was the loudest response of all. "Good mornin'!" Kris practically shouted, bowing obediently.

"Holy crap," Touya muttered to himself. "She actually listened."

Monorua laughed, sitting back on its haunches and clapping his front paws together. "Good!" it exclaimed, before rocking forward and getting back on all fours. "I'd like to begin opening remarks, which will answer all of your questions! Everyone, please, find a seat!"

Touya wound up sitting between Touko and Bill, while Monorua made his way back onto the podium. "Ahem, ahem!" Monorua cleared its throat again once everyone had taken a seat. "I'd like to thank you one and all for attending this Conference of Interregional Progress!" it announced, standing with its paws pressed together at the front of the podium. "You bastards are most certainly all geniuses, filled with overflowing talent... the bright, young faces of our future! You bring hope to this world!"

Hugh started applauding, but as no one joined in, he proceeded to sit on his hands and act like nothing had happened.

"And in order to preserve and protect that hope... you'll be living a communal lifestyle within the walls of this academy," Monorua said simply. Then it bowed, dropping its front to the ground and lowering its head. "Thank you, thank you! Thus concludes opening remarks!"

With that, the conference room exploded.

"What?!" Hugh roared, leaping out of his seat.

"Are you serious?! That doesn't answer anything!" called Homika.

"I'm not serious, I'm Monorua!" Monorua replied.

"ARGH," called a voice. Touya placed it as Proton's as soon as he saw the man jump to his feet and storm towards the creature, slamming his hands down on the podium hard enough to make Monorua jump. "I'm sick of you," he growled, his voice dripping with venom. "I'm sick of your _voice_, and I'm sick of your fuckin' _games_. You're gonna explain what the hell's goin' on here, or I'm gonna _carve you in half_."

"Ehh?" Monorua asked, its tail wagging as it turned to address Proton, who stared at the creature with a look of pure hatred. The room had falled into a stunned silence as Proton spoke, the words like bile on his tongue. Then Monorua started to sweat, a shade of pink tinting its cheeks. "Don't look at me like that," it said playfully, its tongue poking out between two small fangs, "you're making me all hot and bothered~"

"Fuckin' _answer me!_" Proton roared, shifting his weight as he lurched forward onto his powerful arms, hoisting himself onto the podium.

He had just reached for something under the hem of his pants when a second person placed his hands on the podium, remarkably more gently than Proton had. "Proton," scolded Archer's lackadaiscal tone. The green-haired man faltered, his head snapping to the side to glare at his fellow Rocket. "Don't make a fool of yourself."

"Fuck you," Proton spat, and turned back to Monorua only to find that the creature had vanished.

"I can't answer you now!" Monorua exclaimed from where he stood on the podium, a good distance from the Rockets. "That's the topic for this evening's conference! It would be un-_bear_-able if we were to get off-schedule this early!"

Monorua wagged its tail as everyone stared at it in silence. "Hm... I can't make _those_ puns, can I? Upupu... how tragic."

"More importantly," Archer spoke up, "our next conference isn't until tonight?"

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant," Monorua affirmed.

"How are we supposed to achieve _progress_," Archer continued, "at such a slow rate? We only have three days."

Monorua tossed its head to the side, and then the other side. "Ehh?" it asked. "Ehh? _Ehh? _Only three days? Upupu... upupupu!"

That laughter sent a chill down Touya's spine and he shifted in his seat, consciously loosening his grip on the arms of his chair.

"Three days," Monorua repeated. Then its voice became loud and booming, enough to make even Proton flinch. "Try again, you bastards!" Monorua shouted. "This communal lifetsyle is going to be _forever!_"

Nobody dared to speak. Nobody dared to breathe.

"Forever?" Archer asked, his even tone indicating his disbelief.

"Forever!" Monorua echoed. "In other words, you're going to be living here your entire lives! That's the life you've been assigned, you bastards!"

Touya's pulse quickened, each rapid beat of his heart pounding in his ears. "That's... a joke, right?" he whispered, his arms stiff and his hands once again grasping so hard at the sides of his chair that his knuckles were turning white. "It's just a joke."

Still seated beside him, Touko nodded her head once, almost robotically. "Just a joke," she repeated. "Just a joke... just a joke."

That seemed to be the general consensus around the room. The response would have been much more panicked if anyone had believed it to be true, right?

Just as Touya drew that conclusion, someone cried out. "Yer lyin'!" Kris shouted, jumpling to her feet and balling her hands into fists, puffing her chest out to challenge the two-toned creature.

"I am not a liar!" Monorua declared, bristling as its attention turned towards the girl. "I take great pride in that!"

"I don't hafta listen ta some _pokemon!_" Kris spat, entirely disregarding its claim.

"Jeez, have't we been over this? It's Mo - No - Ru - A!" it repeated, temper flaring.

"I don't care whatcha say yer name is," Kris said, reaching for something on her hip, "all I know is dat you's a rare, tawkin' pokemon, and pokemon are meant ta be _captured_."

She faltered slightly as she realized that whatever she was reaching for wasn't there. This gave Akuroma, who was seated beside her, enough time to stand up, bridging the gap between him and his cousin, and grabbing her by the shoulder. "Kris," he warned.

Kris yanked away from the touch instinctively, her attention never tearing away from Monorua. "Forget 'da pleasantries," she snarled. "I'll do it m'self." And without further warning, the girl lunged forward, clambering onto the podium with a certain finesse, and lunged at Monorua like a veritable pokemon. Akuroma didn't even have time to protest before she was far out of his range.

Monorua yelped and flailed, but its tiny paws couldn't carry itself out of way before the ball of pigtailed fury grabbed hold of it. Kris' shoulder took the brunt of the fall as she plucked Monorua off of the ground with a firm hold around its neck, before rolling over and slamming it mercilessly into the ground.

N, who had moved forward to try and diffuse the situation, let a choked sound escape the back of his throat as his eyes narrowed and his hands clenched into fists. Archer had joined Proton on the podium and both of them watched the girl- Proton's expression one of disgust, while Archer's was more of utmost fascination. Kris kept Monorua pinned to the floor by its throat, her small body looming over the even smaller creature like a predator would loom over its prey.

"Oh my god," Lyra whimpered, hiding her face in one of Green's broad hands.

But despite the abuse, Monorua's expression remained entirely unchanged. "Violence towards the headmaster is against the rules!" it exclaimed, half of its face smirking up at the girl as it always did. "Shouldn't you know the rules, know-it-all?"

"Shut _up!_" Kris roared, picking up the creature and slamming it back into the ground again. Monorua's red eye, which produced some sort of faint light, flickered and went dark. Kris trembled and shook with rage, her entire body heaving with each breath she took. "Now where'd'ja put my pokeballs?" she demanded, leaning in close to the now-silent Monorua.

A loud '**BEEP, BEEP, BEEP' **was the creature's only response. It didn't sound the same as when it talked- this noise sounded like it came from within the creature itself. It was slow, at first, but with each beep it picked up in frequency.

"Stop it," N demanded, eyes still narrowed. He bridged the gap between himself and the girl with just a few long strides, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You and your human pride... you disgust me." His tone was different now- revolting, commanding, haughty.

"Fuck off, green bean," Kris snarled, turning her attention back to Monorua. "And you- stop wit' 'da beepin' and answer me, or I's gonna make ya _wish _I'd'a captured ya!"

**'BEEP, BEEP, BEEP**,' went Monorua.

"That noise," Touko said, and before Touya could turn to look at her she had already leapt out of her seat. Her powerful muscles flexed as she ran, reaching the podium in no more than a second. Touko was beautiful, and Touya was overcome by that fact as he watched her jump effortlessly onto the podium and come up behind Kris. "Get away from it!" she called. And then, without warning, she swooped in on the pigtailed menace, reaching under her shoulders and yanking her up with one solid heave.

Kris yelped in surprise, her grip on Monorua slipping as she thrashed in Touko's arms. N swept it into his arms as soon as the girl had let it go.

**'BEEP, BEEP, BEEPBEEPBEEP**,' went Monorua.

"N!" Touko barked, fighting to restrain Kris as she writhed and fought. "Throw it!"

N's face went from one of concern to one of pure horror. "What?" he asked.

**'BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP'**

"Do it! Just trust me!"

But N didn't have time to decide whether he trusted Touko or not. Without warning Monorua was ripped from N's gentle grasp by Janine- Touya realized that he hadn't even seen her get on the podium- who proceeded to whip around, chucking the unresponsive creature high into the air.

And in that moment- when it hung high in the air- it exploded.

Touya didn't even have time to cover his ears or squeeze his eyes shut. Someone screamed- actually, a couple of someones screamed, but Touya couldn't place the voices. His ear were ringing painfully, and he coughed, choking on the smell of ashes.

N was silent, staring at the point of the explosion with wide eyes. "It-" he started, his voice distant and struck with disbelief. "It just-"

"It _exploded!_" Homika exclaimed.

"Th-that means..." Bill spoke up from beside Touya, voice shaky, "that means... at least that there robot critter's gone now, right?"

Without warning, Bill dropped out of his chair. Or, rather... Bill's chair seemed to suddenly vanish, leaving the engineer to fall to the ground. The young man let out a short yell of surprise as he fell, but once he hit the ground, he shrieked. It was loud enough for Touya to jump out of his seat in a panic.

Monorua was seated just an inch from Bill's knees. "I am not a robot critter!" it indignantly shouted. "Monorua! Mo - No - Ru - A!"

"Another one!" Lyra gasped.

"Did you just... transform out of a chair?" asked Green.

"Ya tried ta kill me!" Kris yelled from the podium, and she tried to lunge in Monorua's direction, but was still restrained expertly by Touko.

"I _did!_" Monorua exclaimed proudly. "But, ehh... wasn't it fair? You were breaking the rules! And bad little boys and girls need to be _punished_." It put a heavy emphasis on the last word, before blushing and sweating once more. "And not in the fun way! We need to keep this to a T-rating!"

Touya decided to ignore that remark. "Rules?" Touya parroted, daring to creep closer.

"That'll also be discussed at this evening's conference!" Monorua declared. "There is no rushing progress!"

"But how are we supposed to follow rules if we don't even know what they are?!" Touko called from the podium. The others murmured in agreement. Monorua simply looked at the ground and smirked, remaining silent for a long while.

"Well?!" Touko demanded.

"Just don't do anything you wouldn't do in your own home!" Monorua shouted suddenly. "And since this _is _your home, now, that should come naturally to you! No violence against the headmaster! No destroying security cameras! But that's all you bastards are gonna get!"

"W-wait," Yancy squeaked, "that was too fast...!"

"The next conference will take place at exactly 6 o'clock, in the cafeteria. Don't be late!" it finished, and then without warning it leapt into the air, somersaulting once and somehow returning to the form of a chair. It fell to the ground and landed with a clatter, and moved no more.

Even after the chair hit the ground and stopped moving, nobody dared to take their eyes off of it for the longest of times. Even Kris, who had been thrashing and making various threatening noises in Touko's direction, fell silent and stared at the chair.

Green was the first to break stance. He crossed the room and stood in front of the chair, hesitated a moment, and then laid his hand on the back of it. "It feel just like any other chair," he said, his voice strained.

"I-I'm still not sittin' on it," Bill whimpered.

"Nobody's asking you to," said Homika.

Slowly, the people who had gathered on the podium started to rejoin the group. Touko hesitantly released her hold on Kris, bracing herself in case the pigtailed girl made to attack her. But Kris jumped off of the podium and made a beeline for her cousin, pressing her small form up against his and wrapping her arms around him. And Akuroma, displaying the closest thing to affection that his reserved, clinical style would allow, patted the girl on the shoulder.

"He's lying," Yancy blurted out, "r-right? About b-being stuck in here... f-forever?!"

"Of course," said Lyra, wrapping her arms comfortingly around the pink-haired girl, resting her chin on the other girl's shoulder. "It's just a joke that someone's taking _way _too far." But as Lyra spoke, Touya detected something in her tone. It sounded like the faint shred of doubt.

"Whether it is a lie or not, we much operate under the assumption that Monorua tells the truth." Caitlin's calm and listless voice floated into the conversation, though the girl had not left her chair. In fact, she had hardly moved at all. She had craned her neck to look at the crowd of people, and opened her eyes just enough to gaze at them from beneath thick eyelashes.

Yancy took in a shuddering gasp and Lyra glared at Caitlin, holding Yancy tighter.

"She's right," N spoke up, his fists still clenched by his sides. "Occam's Razor- I'm sure you're all familiar with it- encourages us to resist unnecessarily multiplying variables."

"_Whose_ razor?' Lyra asked in a hushed whisper, but N didn't stop to answer.

"Nothing about our current predicament lends itself to the assumption that this is a farce of any kind." Touya felt a challenge swell up within him- but N was right, wasn't he? No matter how much he racked his brain for any sort of evidence to the contrary, he couldn't produce a single fact. N continued. "Therefore, in order to progress towards a viable solution, we must believe, on some level, that we are indeed trapped."

At this point, everyone had shifted to give N their full attention. He spoke fast, but each word he said seemed to be carefully chosen. He was eloquent, to say the least.

"That being said, I still stand by my earlier claim," he continued, a certain spark in his gray eyes. In spite of the current situation, he looked comfortable- more comfortable than Touya had seen him all day. "There _is _a solution to this puzzle, and as soon as we uncover those hidden pieces, we _will _solve it. We cannot yet fathom how long it will take. It could be a very long time indeed. So I suggest that our first objective should be to learn about our new surroundings. Find the essentials. Make the best out of this less-than-ideal situation."

N shifted. His arms tensed up and the corners of his lips twitched into a frown, just for a moment. His gaze became harder, more steely. It was an almost imperceptible change, and lasted for only a moment, but it caught Touya's attention. "And perhaps," he said, his tone meaningful, "you might internalize this fear, this discomfort, this anxiety... and liken it to a pokemon, trapped in a pokeball."

He bowed his head, clasped his hands together, and stepped back. Hugh stared at N with wide eyes, and Touya could practically see the gears whirring away in his head.

"N's right," Touko said, drawing attention to herself. "We've got hours to go before the next conference. If we're gonna be stuck here, we should try and get a feel for the place. I propose we split up, figure out everything we can, and meet back up in an hour."

"Let's meet in the cafeteria," Janine suggested. "We'll need food to keep our strength up."

The thought of food made Touya nauseous. How could she think of eating at a time like this?

"Alright," Touko agreed. "We'll meet in the cafeteria at noon, capiche?"

The group made various noises of agreement, before people started to clump into their own groups. Lyra took Yancy's hand and led her towards where Green stood, babbling an introduction. Red had rejoined his rival, as well.

Someone brushed past Touya with enough force to nearly knock him forward, but he caught himself in time. Proton had stormed out of the room, Archer following close behind. But as the latter reached the doorway, he paused and turned to address the group. "With all due respect," he said, "I am not entirely convinced that this puzzle is missing pieces at all." And with that he turned, slipping through the doors.

"We's goin' ta look fer 'da dorms, an' pro'lly see if we can find 'da cafeteria," Kris announced, standing proudly by Akuroma.

The scientist's piercing golden gaze swept the remaining group before it settled on one particular individual. "Lady Caitlin," Akuroma called lightly, "why don't you join us?"

Caitlin stirred, blinking slowly in the man's direction. _No way_, Touya thought. There was no way that she would agree to investigate with them.

After a moment's pause she lifted herself out of her seat. "Very well," she agreed, folding her hands neatly in front of her as she crossed to join the pair with silent footsteps.

"Atta girl, Sleepin' Beauty," Kris cheered, "but ya'd better not slow us down!" And with that she grabbed Akuroma's hand and tugged him out of the door, leaving Caitlin to follow. Caitlin followed, leaving Touya to feel betrayed and humbled.

The numbers had thinned. "Hey, Touya." He turned to see that Homika had called him, beckoning him over with a flick of her wrist. She stood by Janine, who looked over her shoulder at him. "Come investigating with us!"

Instinctively, his gaze snapped to Touko. What he had _really _wanted was to spend some quality time with her. They had a lot to catch up on, after all. But as his gaze settled on her, he noticed N standing too close to her, speaking too quietly for him to hear.

Eloquent as he may be, he didn't particularly want to spend quality time with N.

"Sure," he said as he joined the group, doing his best to mask his disappointment.

Homika snickered and patted him hard on the back. "C'mon, man, your girlfriend's gonna be fine," she teased, a mischievous glint in her eye. Touya blushed furiously and made to protest, but Homika cut him off with another slap on the back. "Hey, don't be so quick to deny it! You'll just depress yourself."

"Anyway," Janine interjected, "we're thinking of looking around upstairs."

In a flash, Touya remembered just how large and intimidating the building had been. How had that managed to escape him? "Makes sense," he agreed.

"There's probably-" Janine had started, but suddenly stopped and whirled around, just in time for Hugh to rush up to the trio, skidding to a halt right at Janine's toes.

"Hey!" he barked an introduction, staring intently at each member of the group in turn as he spoke. "Let's go together! Your group looks trustworthy!"

"...uhhhh," Touya said.

Janine raised an eyebrow, but otherwise kept her expression neutral. It was Homika who finally spoke up. "Jeez, she said, her lips twitching into a lopsided grin. "Yeah, you can come."

Hugh's intense gaze wavered with relief and he looked at Homika with appreciation. "Thank you," he said, and then he flung his arms around Touya and Janine, pulling the two of them into a tiny, awkward huddle, Homika joining in as well. "There's something I need your help with," he said in a harsh whisper.

"Sure," Touya spoke up without much thought. Hugh nodded resolutely, before craning his neck and glancing over his shoulder at the people who remained in the conference room.

"Come on," he urged, breaking the huddle and pushing forward, towards the doors. Homika followed. Janine and Touya exchanged helpless glances and shrugs before doing the same.

As soon as the doors shut behind them, Hugh spun around without warning, cutting Homika off mid-step. "Keep going!" he barked, eyeing the doors behind them suspiciously. "I'm sure they can still hear us."

Did the halls look a little more intimidating, now? Or was Touya imagining it? The fact that there were no windows hadn't struck him before, but now it only served as a reminder to how trapped they were. Hugh marched onward, casting nervous glances around with every other step. Homika hung back, casually strolling with her arms crossed behind her head like some sort of anime protagonist.

"Hugh?" Janine asked, catching up to him and putting a hand on his shoulder to slow him down. "What are you doing?"

The vigilante stopped short, tossing his head to each side before turning around again. "Alright," he started. "It looks safe. Did anyone follow us?"

His gaze fell on Touya, who offered up a tentative "uh... n...o?"

"Good." Hugh beckoned everyone in closer, giving one more sweep of the surroundings before ducking his head and talking in a hushed voice. "I know who's locked us in here," he said.

"What? Really?" Touya asked, head snapping up and eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

"Are you serious?" exclaimed Janine, an excited smile playing at the corners of her lips. But in a heartbeat that hint of a smile disappeared, replaced with a practiced stoic expression. "Who is it?" she asked, her tone more controlled.

Hugh's entire expression contorted into one of loathing. His jaw set and his brow furrowed and his nostrils flared. "Plasma," he growled.

"Plasma?" Homika repeated.

"Team Plasma!" His gruff tone cut sharply through the heavy air. His face was turning red and his shoulders were heaving wildly, his breathing becoming more and more ragged. "The scum of the earth! Pokemon thieves who claim it's liberation!"

Touya knew, vaguely, about Team Plasma. In one of her calls, Touko had mentioned encountering them a few times. She talked about an eloquent leader that had people eating out of his palms when he spoke, and she talked about the bumbling grunts who she apprehended at least a few times. By the time she had left for Castelia City- the time of her last call- she had told Touya about three separate occasions where she had flaunted her prowess as a pokemon trainer and brought them to justice.

"Jeez, you really think so?" asked Homika, quirking an eyebrow in Hugh's direction. "Look, I get that you've got a vendetta and all-"

"I WILL DESTROY TEAM PLASMA!"

"-yeah, like _that_- but man, I really hate Brussels sprouts. I'm not gonna blame _them _for lockin' me in here."

Hugh flared, standing upright and glaring at Homika. "I have _proof!_" he declared. "One: upon arriving, everyone's pokemon were stolen from them! Two: using a zorua as a mascot is so symbolic, it makes me _sick!_" As he listed his evidence, he counted off on his fingers.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" Homika interrupted. Touya's gaze shot back to Hugh, looking for an answer.

The vigilante took this interjection in stride. "Zorua are masters of trickery and illusions! They are deceitful, and only a skilled trainer can tell that they're lying before they reveal their true colours! Sound familiar? It's a metaphor for those... those _scum_."

Silence hung in the air for only a moment before he continued. "Three: take a look at the invitation!" With that he reached into an inner pocket of his jacket, pulling out a folded-up letter that had been torn, crumpled, and scribbled all over. He haphazardly unfolded it and shoved it in Touya's face.

The young man hardly had time to register what he was seeing, let alone read it. All he could take in was a single cluster of words: '_Please make sure to arrive_', with the first word and some of the second highlighted in bright yellow.

"Ple-" Touya began to read, but Hugh whipped the paper away to hold it up for Homika and Janine in turn.

"'Please ma'," Hugh said. "Sound familiar? They thought they were being sneaky, but they can't get anything past me!"

_Please ma?_ Touya repeated it to himself a few times, trying to figure out what Hugh was talking about.

"Please ma..." Janine read, her brow furrowing. "...Plasma?"

"Exactly!" Hugh exclaimed, hurriedly stuffing the invitation back in his pocket, as if someone might snatch it away from him. "They thought they could be cocky and slip their own name in there. But it was a fatal flaw!"

"Uh..." Touya murmured, side-eying the other two members of the group to try and gauge their reactions. Homika looked two parts annoyed and one part entertained, with her hand sprawled out over her face and the corners of her mouth twitched upwards. She muttered vague sounds of disbelief and amusement into her palm. Janine, on the other hand, was unreadable. She looked like she might've been considering the idea, but Touya couldn't be too sure. All he knew was that his faith in Hugh's claims was starting to waver.

"And finally! Number four," Hugh announced, "is the bastard in there, going on about puzzles and being trapped in a pokeball! It's so obvious, I can't believe no one else figured it out! He's one of _them_!"

"No way," Touya blurted, stomping his foot. Hugh turned to face him. "Touko wouldn't hang around someone in Team Plasma!"

"They're masters of trickery!" Hugh asserted. "She probably can't even tell! He lured her in and... and seduced her, tempted her to the dark side, and now she's his mistress of evil!"

"You're insane," growled Touya, feeling the heat rising to his cheeks.

"Knock it off, dumbass. There's no Team Plasma here," said Homika, grabbing one of his arms with both hands and yanking him back.

But Hugh, enraged by the mere mention of the villainous team, broke free from Homika's grasp. "He's defending them!" he barked, gesturing wildly in Touya's direction.

"I'm not!" Touya snapped, flusteredness and indignation making it hard to form a coherent thought. "She's fighting Tea- _them_, okay?! I know that no one from that group is here because if they were, she would have figured them out and kicked their sorry asses by now!"

Touya hadn't realized that he'd raised his voice until the halls fell silent once more. Hugh, who had started to move forward, had frozen mid-lurch, his eyes staring straight through Touya. Homika's hands were on Hugh's arm again, and Janine was poised to grab him by the shoulder.

Homika broke the silence, whistling in appreciation. "Damn," she said, cracking a grin, "Nuvema Town's got a_ mouth_."

The vigilante's gaze refocused on Touya, perhaps a bit less critical now. "She's _fighting_ them?" he parroted, his gaze narrowed intently.

"Yes," Touya said.

Hugh considered this for a moment, his lips slightly moving as he spoke silently to himself.

"Well, I for one think that your points are crap and you're a lunatic," Homika said affectionately, reaching up and rustling his hair. "But you probably knew that already."

"Yeah," Touya added, his voice much quieter now. "Kidnapping people just... doesn't seem like their style."

Hugh huffed, turning his back on the both of them and instead facing Janine. "...I wouldn't be so sure," she said. "Back in Kanto... Team Rocket ran a game corner. It wasn't their style, but that's why it did so well."

"Team Plasma's probably too stupid to think up something like that," Homika sniggered.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go ahead and say that it's the best theory we've got so far," Janine concluded simply. "Until someone comes up with something better, we'll have to assume that it's possible."

"Yes!" Hugh agreed triumphantly, raising a fist in the air. "And we'll gather the strongest warriors here to fight against those scum and bring them to justice!"

"Uh, I didn't-" started Janine, but Hugh had already taken off down the hall.

Janine made to chase after him, but a light tug on her scarf by Homika stopped her. "Don't bother," she said. "He'll hit a dead end eventually."

As it turned out, Hugh had come to a screeching halt at the stairway. There were heavy metal bars that reached from the floor to the ceiling, which explained why he had stopped at all.

"What the hell, man," Homika groaned as she approached, wrapping a hand around one of the bars and tugging on it. It didn't budge.

"I guess we aren't supposed to go upstairs?" pondered Touya, hanging back with Janine as Homika and Hugh examined the bars.

Janine sighed. "Guess not."

"ARGH," Homika yelled, grabbing another bar with her free hand and trying to rattle them both. "It doesn't make any sense! Why block off the second floor?!"

"There's gotta be something good up there!" Hugh roared, and he too tried to shake the bars.

"Maybe it's a way out," mused Janine.

"Maybe!" Monorua exclaimed, swooping in on the group from seemingly out of nowhere. Its tiny paws scrambled along the tiled floor until it came to the center of the group, at which point it sat back on its haunches and flailed its front limbs in Homika and Hugh's direction. "Hey, you bastards, cut it out! You're gonna break it!"

Hugh whipped his head around excitedly. "Really?!"

"Nope!" Monorua placed its hands on its belly and laughed uproariously. "Those bars are made of pure iron! These bad boys ain't gonna break, no matter how much rage you unleash on 'em!"

Hugh roared and went back to shaking the bars even harder, yanking on them with everything he could muster, much to Monorua's amusement. Homika, however, took a step back, putting her hands on her hips and leering down at the creature. "Oy, fuckface. Why aren't you letting us upstairs?"

Monorua's laugh stopped abruptly. "Ehh?" it asked, tilting its head curiously towards Homika and thumping its tail against the ground. "Do you want to know what's up there?" it baited, tongue poking out of its mouth.

"YES," Hugh bleated.

A chuckle of 'upupu' sounded from Monorua. "You'll just have to wait," it taunted.

"Wait for what?!" demanded Homika.

"Ehh," drawled Monorua, "just think of it as a reward for good behaviour."

Touya quirked a brow. He may have been astoundingly average, but he liked to think he was pretty good at following directions and behaving well. "I can do that," he muttered, more to himself than to anyone in particular.

Monorua looked towards Touya. Its grin was downright dastardly, matched by a malicious glint in its regular eye. "Can you, now?"

The young man felt resentment well up in his chest. What, just because he was the Super High School Lucky Ducklett meant that he wasn't allowed to be able to do _anything? _He bristled, glowering. "I can," he affirmed, "and I _will_."

He watched Monorua's smirk stretch even wider. "Well then," it said darkly. Then it brought up both paws to cover its mouth, laughing daintily. "Upupupupu~"

Homika rolled her eyes- an action that was hard to miss, considering how large her eyes were on her pale face. "Yeah, yeah," she dismissed. "Cut the crap. Why are you here?"

Monorua's gaze trailed downward and it looked as sheepish as it could, considering its permanent half-grin. "I just wanted to help you bastards out, is all," it pouted, drawing aimless shapes on the ground with its paw. "Since you would've kept at it for _hours_, and I don't want you wasting your energy."

Janine, who had been quiet until that moment, let out a soft sound of acknowledgement. "That's... uncharacteristically kind of you," she said.

"'Uncharacteristically kind,'" Monorua repeated, still looking down. "I'm not a monster, you know..."

Hugh scoffed, whirling around to loom over the two-toned creature. "Ha!" he barked. "Nobody believes your lies, Plasma scum!" He looked smug- haughty, even. "That's right: we know your little secret. And we're gonna take you _down!_"

Monorua continued looking down for another moment, before glancing up at Hugh. "Ehh?" it asked curiously. Then it blinked a few times and glanced towards Janine. "What's he talking about?" But before she could even manage to reply, Monorua continued. "Ehh, forget it, I really don't care." It waved its paw in farewell. "See ya!"

It had all happened very fast, and before anyone could think to respond, Monorua leapt into the air, somersaulted once, and crashed back down in the form of a school desk.

"Get _back _here!" Hugh demanded, lunging at the school desk. He kicked one of its leg, sending it skidding back about a metre, before howling in pain and clutching at his foot.

"Hey, dumbass," grunted Homika, reaching up and grabbing him by the collar, yanking him back. "You wanna get us all killed?"

"Yeah," Touya added, grabbing for one of his arms to help Homika restrain him. "It could blow up any minute!"

Hugh shook in their grip, but ultimately settled on glaring daggers towards the desk which had once been Monorua. "I swear..." he began, his voice dangerously low, but never finished the thought.

Janine, who had stepped forward to test the bars herself, let out a gentle sigh and turned back to the group. "Come on," she said. "We're not getting past these. There's no point."

Homika nodded. Hugh grunted and made spirited sounds of protest, but couldn't produce anything that even resembled a proper argument. He just grumbled and yanked free from the restrictive hands that held him, slinking back down the hall and sulking. "Playing dumb," Touya heard him say, "they're trash... worse than trash..."

The four of them spent the next short while trying to pass time until the group would reconvene. They paced through every bit of hallway that they could reach, every so often partaking in light conversation but usually in silence. They found a door that led to a school store, of some sort, except no one had any money on them so they couldn't buy anything, even if they wanted to. But no one had any interest in buying the various merchandise for sale- especially since most of it seemed to be decorated with Monorua's face.

There was another door, not far from the conference room, that was locked and covered in police tape. Although there was a window in the door, it was so tinted, and the room was so dark, that no one was able to tell what was inside.

The rest of the rooms seemed to be classrooms. Touya definitely recognized room 103-A as where he had woken up. The rest of the group made similar noises of recognition as they poked their heads in the rest of the classrooms, finding that they all looked relatively similar.

"Here's where I was," Janine said as they approached room 110. Without thinking too much she turned the handle on the door and pushed it open.

"W-waugh!" exclaimed someone as the door hit something, followed by a dull thump as Bill fell to the ground. He made dazed sounds as he propped himself up on his elbow, holding two fingers to his temple as he blinked hard.

Janine winced, closing the door until only her head poked through. "Sorry!" she hastily apologized.

Then came Touko's voice. "Woah, you okay?" she asked. A moment later the door swung open, revealing the scene. Bill had apparently been standing on a chair just in front of the doorway, examining the security camera that was mounted above the doorframe. Touko had kicked the chair out of the way before opening the door, and then bent down to help Bill back on his feet. Touya felt Hugh shift beside him, and only then noticed N in the far back corner of the room, apparently examining the thick metal plates that blocked the windows.

"Hey, Touya!" Touko greeted as soon as Bill was back on his feet. "You guys find anything?"

Touya shook his head. "Not really," he said. "The stairs are blocked off."

"Rats," Touko cursed, snapping her fingers disappointedly. She grinned up at Touya nevertheless. "That's a shame. Good idea to try the stairs, though!"

"Touko," N called idly from across the room, "we already saw that the stairs were blocked off earlier."

The athlete's smile faltered.

"And it was my idea," muttered Homika.

The athlete's smile fell. "Oh, well," she said.

"There's also a store," Janine piped up, "but really, I think it's best we save everything for the meeting. Someone else might know more about it than we do."

Bill, rubbing the back of his head, flashed a smile towards Janine. "Good thinking," he agreed. "The clock says it's just about noon, so we were thinkin' about headin' on over to find the cafeteria."

"Good idea," said Touya. And no sooner had he finished speaking that he heard someone come barreling down the halls.

"It's noon o'clock!" declared Kris in her distinctive tone, serving as a good warning at least a few seconds before she rounded the corner and came into view. It gave Touya time to cast Touko a desperate glance that said 'oh god hide me please', and that was about it. In the very next moment Kris rounded the corner and skidded to a halt near the doorway.

"C'mon, ya slowpokes!" she yelled, much too loud considering that she was standing right next to them. "You's gonna be late for 'da meetin'! And we ain't gonna catch ya up!" She never stood perfectly still; she shifted her weight from foot to foot and was very animated with her arms as she talked.

Touko spoke up on behalf of the group, pushing through to address Kris directly. "We were just about to head out, actually," she said, smiling down at the blue-haired girl.

Kris scoffed, her signature smirk never leaving her face. "Yeah, yeah, but ya don't even gotta _clue _where ta go, do ya? You'd'a gotten yer sorry asses _way _lost if I didn't show up." She looked even more smug than usual.

"Ah, jeez," Homika jeered, rolling her eyes.

Touko narrowed her eyes as she held Kris' gaze, but the smile, although forced, never faltered. "That'd be a huge help," she said, "but I'm sure we would've been just fine on our own, thanks."

Kris puffed out her chest and held Touko's gaze expertly, the two holding their staring contest as if nothing existed around them. Touko was the one to pull away eventually, turning towards the direction that Kris had come from. "Alright, guys," she called to the group, gesturing for them to follow. And then she side-eyed Kris. "Lead the way," she said. Kris smirked and obliged.

Boy, did Touya hate her.

She marched proudly in front of the group as if she were leading her very own parade, rambling on and on in her thick accent and not seeming to care if anyone was listening. "'Dey sent me ta round up all ya schmucks, since I's 'da fastest runna'," she boasted.

Touya would sooner believe that they sent her because it was a good excuse to get rid of her. He shared this thought with Homika, and she chuckled. Kris didn't notice.

"It makes sense. I's 'da fastest runna' East'a Ecruteak! I'd be 'da Supa' High School Level Runna' if I weren't already 'da Know-It-All. I mean, man, I ain't even winded, even t'ough you's guys are 'da last ones! Jeez, even roundin' up 'dose Rockets was easy! Even easier 'dan 'da first time I did it. Man, I's just incredible."

"You have a history with Team Rocket?" Janine piped up, quickening her pace to reach the front of the group. Touya paled, and tried to stop her, but it was too late.

"Hells yeah, I's gotta history wit' Team Rocket!" Kris called over her shoulder. "Y'know, I's 'da one who brought 'em down once 'dey tried ta restart in Johto! I's 'da one who single-handedly overt'rew 'deir whole organization! Man, Archy-boy and Crouton? 'Dey's pro'lly quiverin' in fear ever since 'dey learned 'dat I's at 'dis conference, too! Y'ask me, 'dey shouldn't've even let 'dese Rocket scum inta someplace as fancy schmancy as 'dis," she rambled. Then she launched straight into a retelling of, apparently, every encounter with Team Rocket throughout her entire journey.

Janine and N were the only ones in the entire group who seemed to be listening. As for Touya, he was more than happy to entwine his fingers with Touko's, pretending that Kris' grating tone was no more than white noise.

The group made its way through the halls, coming to a second set of double doors that was slightly less grand than the ones leading to the conference room. Kris shoved her way through them without much fanfare, and everyone else followed. All too soon the group found themselves in what appeared to be the dormitory. And as Kris made a sharp right, leading everyone through a wide doorway, their journey came to a close. Everyone seemed to have already been seated, and turned to watch the newcomers arrive.

Touya didn't like having that many eyes trained on him, even though some of them seemed friendly or even familiar. But with his hand in Touko's, he really didn't even notice.


	4. Good Morning, Good Night (Act 1)

**CHAPTER TWO**

**[GOOD MORNING, GOOD NIGHT]**

The cafeteria was grand, as Touya expected it to be. It spanned two levels, with a set of steps leading down to a fair amount of round tables, as well as a door that he assumed led to the kitchen. The whole room was even larger than the conference room- but Touya had no problem finding the gathering of people, even if Kris hadn't led him and the rest of his group straight to them. "I got 'em!" she announced proudly, glancing at the clock on the wall. "We's four minutes late, but 'dat's 'deir fault, 'cause 'dey's a bunch'a slowpokes." With a flippant wave of her hand she sauntered towards one of the long tables on the upper level, which everyone else had gathered around. Touya wasn't surprised to see her sitting next to Akuroma. He was even less surprised to find that the seat on the other side of her was empty.

"Sorry we're late," Touko said sheepishly.

"Don't worry about it!" Lyra exclaimed, hopping up from where she sat, sandwiched between Green and Yancy, to approach them. "It's really not a big deal at all. She just... she just has problems, you know? I can't imagine how terrible it must be, living like that..." She added this part in a hushed voice, just loudly enough for Touya and Touko to hear, and her gaze glossed over with sadness. But then she recovered, smiling and grabbing for Touya's and Touko's joined hands with both of hers. "Come on! Let's go find a seat." She looked over towards where she had been seated before. "I'm gonna sit with Touya and Touko, okay?" she called. Green's gaze darted towards her and he nodded, followed by Yancy mumbling some form of assent.

Lyra smiled and laughed a little, scanning the main table for a good place to sit. But most of the seats had been taken, by now. Hugh took the seat next to Kris, and Homika ended up taking Lyra's old seat. The only two seats left were for Bill and Janine.

Instead, Lyra led the two of them to a small, round side table, which two people were already sitting at. Touya's face went white, but Lyra, ever the Social Butterfree, was undeterred.

"Hi there!" she greeted the two Rockets, both sets of piercing eyes trained on her. "Would you gentlemen mind terribly if we joined you?"

Proton's expression twitched into one of vague amusement as he took in the sight. But it was Archer who spoke up. "I don't see any reason to refuse," he said simply, a simple and practiced smile on his lips.

Lyra grinned. "Thanks!" She pulled out a chair and invited Touya and Touko to sit on either side of her. Touya's stomach growled- the main table had a platter with all sorts of fresh fruits piled on it acting as the centerpiece, but none of the smaller side tables had food of any sort. Janine had been right, earlier- by this time, he really _was_ in need of some sustenance.

Before anything else could happen, Akuroma rose from his seat, causing a sudden lull in all conversation. Even Kris, who sat with her legs crossed and her bare feet on the table, stopped rambling about who-knows-what to listen. "If I may," Akuroma began, his suave voice projecting through the entire room, "it is now 12:05, and I'd like to begin."

Touya didn't know who made him in charge, but at the very least, he was easier to listen to than Kris was. It was a shame that they had to be related. Touya would probably like him more if they weren't.

"Kris, Caitlin, and myself explored these dormatories," Akuroma began.

"'Dey's real fancy!" Kris piped up.

"It appears that each one of us has been provided with a personal room. Each door is unlocked, but comes with a labeled key."

"Also a stationary set!" Kris added.

"And a stationary set," Akuroma amended. "For females, that is. For males, our rooms are instead equipped with a tool kit."

"Bah, what're we s'posed ta do wit' stationary? A sewing kit would'a been better 'dan 'dis," Kris scoffed.

"Stop interrupting!" Lyra called, and Kris seized, her eyes going wide and her gaze training intently on the blank wall in front of her. Proton snickered.

"We each have a full bathroom as well," Akuroma continued as if nothing had happened. "And I suppose that concludes our findings." He waited for a moment before he placed his gloved hands gently on the table. "Next?"

Touko took this as her cue to stand up. As she did so, N also stood- and it took Touya until now to realize that N had pulled up a chair to sit between Touko and Proton, eying the latter disdainfully. "Me, N, and Bill checked out some of the classrooms," Touko began. "They're all pretty much exactly the same, and... really empty. We didn't even find any chalk or paper." She paused, gaze trailing skyward as she thought. "Other than that... room 108 had one less desk than all the others. But I really don't know if that's too relevant." And then, with a bit of a sheepish grin, she sat down.

"None of the metal plates on the windows were loose," N added. "We checked them one by one. There are, however, precisely two plates per classroom, presumably covering two windows each." With that, he nodded resolutely and said no more.

"Um," Bill said, standing up at the large table. "I took a closer look at the security cameras that seem to be jus' about everywhere. I was extra careful, to make sure I didn't do anything that could be considered destroyin' them. It was hard to tell by looks alone, but... it looked pretty complex. They're definitely part of some greater network." And then he hastily sat down, joining the other two members of his group.

Archer stood up in one fluid motion, making nary a sound. He cleared his throat and crossed his arms behind his back before he spoke. "The blockade in the front hall is not going to budge anytime soon," he said concisely, and sat back down.

"What, 'dat's it?!" Kris demanded, whipping around to stare incredulously at the Rockets. "Ya spent all 'dis time and 'dat's all ya found?!"

Proton sneered, quickly rising to his feet and kicking his chair out. He growled and lurched towards Kris, saying something dangerous under his breath. He easily towered over the girl, and would have even if she had been standing.

In spite of that, Kris showed no fear. "You gotta problem, Crouton?" she bit, smirking in the face of death.

The Rocket was just about to lunge at her when two small, gentle hands wrapped around his forearm. "Proton, please," Lyra pleaded, tugging him back. "She doesn't know what she's saying!" Then she looked Kris' way. "We're all friends here, right?"

For a brief second, Kris looked like she wanted to retort, but when the situation sunk in, her face went pale. A guttural whimper escaped her mouth and she writhed like some sort of struck pokemon. Her shaky hands came up to press against her mouth and she began to dry heave. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to disappear into her chair.

Proton was content enough to take a step back and admire Kris' plight with a sadistic grin. But Lyra, bless her heart, was undeterred. "Kris?" she asked tentatively, reaching forward to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Before she could manage, though, Akuroma's arm shot out and one of his gloved hands rested on Kris' back. He didn't move his gaze to look at either of the pigtailed girls. "She's fine," he said smoothly, rubbing his thumb comfortingly along his cousin's spine. There was still something clinical and distant about the action, despite his apparent intentions. "Don't worry about her."

Lyra faltered, looking worried and biting her lip. "Um, okay," she said, letting her hand fall back to her side. "Feel better." Then she reached for Proton's hand and the two of them went back to the table. The latter couldn't resist throwing a glance over his shoulder to bask in Kris' misery.

"What about you, Lyra?" Touko asked as they reached their seats. "You went with Yancy and Green, right?"

As Proton righted his chair and slouched back into his seat, Lyra remained standing. "Well," she started, drawing a finger to her cheek, "I wouldn't really say we _went_ together... we just spent the day in the conference room."

Before any angry voices could ring out, Green stood up. "Red was with us too," he added, running a hand through his hair. "What's the point of bustin' my ass if we're just gonna get more information tonight?"

"Yeah," Lyra continued seamlessly, flashing Green a 1,000-watt smile. "It's like, if Monorua's going to fill us in anyway, then why should we bother? Besides, this place gives me the creeps." And for effect, she shivered.

"UNACCEPTABLE," Hugh roared, leaping to his feet with so much force that he knocked his chair over. He slammed his hands on the table and glared at Green, Red, and Yancy in turn. "If you don't take action, you're letting _them_ win!"

Green scoffed. "Look, kid. There isn't anything to find in here. The most we've gotten is that the cameras are hooked up to something, and we've got our own rooms!"

"You've got that wrong!" countered Hugh. "We found stairs!"

Janine, still seated, spoke up. "The stairs leading up to the second floor are blocked off by bars," she said, her steady voice projecting around the room.

N made to stand up and speak, but Touko elbowed him harshly in the side. He hissed and sat back down, casting Touko a hurt and confused glance.

"And we can't break them, or slip through them," Homika added.

"Well that's just great," Green snarked, "what good does _that_ do us?"

For a moment, all was silent. Touko glanced briefly at Touya, and that single glimpse of her gaze was enough to spur him into action. He stood up and cleared his throat, multiple pairs of eyes turning to him at once. "We know that the bars will be lifted and we'll be allowed upstairs as a reward for good behaviour," he said, steepling his fingers.

"And how, exactly, do we know this?" asked Archer, mimicking the Lucky Ducklett and steepling his own fingers as well.

Touya didn't miss a beat. "Monorua told us," he answered evenly.

The room exploded into chatter. Questions and exclamations were all directed Touya's way, overwhelming him and tinting his cheeks red.

"You talked to him?!"

"How did you find him?"

"Where was he?!"

"I, um," Touya stammered, his steepled fingers collapsing and his hands instead balling into nervous fists.

"Monorua came out of nowhere," answered Janine. "He came running from the hallway, and when he was done, he turned into a desk. Which probably is the one missing from room 108."

Touko nodded thoughtfully, and Janine continued. "We didn't have to call him or anything. But... I bet that if we _did _call him, he'd show up." She glanced at Touya. "Shall we?"

Touya, who had made sure to shoot Janine the most appreciative look he could muster, faltered. "Um, maybe we shouldn't," he suggested lightly. "I mean-"

A faint pop made Touya's imminent protest futile. The thunderous sound of dozens of fruits rolling, bouncing, and falling off the table was peppered with shrieks and shouts of surprise as what had once been a platter turned into Monorua. "Ta-ta-ta-dah!" the black and white creature announced, its personal fanfare ringing out above the sounds of panic.

Akuroma was perhaps the only one at the long table to remain calm. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Monorua spun on the Scientist, his fur bristling and his face burning a shade of red. "What am _I_ doing here?" it repeated, its tail bushing up as the creature bared its fangs, looking very aggressed indeed. "What are _you _doing here?! Can't any of you bastards read a clock?" It pointed with its black forepaw to the grand clock on the wall. "It isn't even close to six! For the brightest minds that your regions have to offer, you lot sure are dumb!"

"We _know _what time it is," Homika muttered under her breath.

"Monorua!" Hugh spoke up, practically pressing his whole front against the table to address the zorua. "We can't wait any longer! Please, give us more information!"

For someone who seemed to hold quite the grudge against who was presumably in charge of the creature, Hugh had managed to keep his tone relatively in check. Monorua nimbly spun around to look at Hugh, visibly starting when it saw just how close the Vigilante had gotten.

"Hey, back off, furball!" Monorua yipped, scampering back a few paces before licking its paw and grooming the fur on its chest. "Weren't you listening to what I said earlier? You can't rush progress!"

"PLEASE," Hugh blurted, his voice loud and cracking. "We need to know!"

Monorua giggled. "Let me reconsider- no," it concluded, and laughed again.

Hugh let out a sound of unbridled rage and frustration, pounding his fists against the table and letting his forehead fall against it. Monorua's laugh evolved into a full-blown uproar.

"Stop being so rude!" Lyra huffed, balling her delicate hands into fists and approaching Monorua. "He makes a good point!"

"Ehh?" Monorua asked, tilting its head Lyra's way.

"She's right," Archer added, fingers still steepled. "It's true, you can't rush progress. But we're not progressing now, are we?"

Now it was Archer that Lyra graced with her brilliant smile. "Yeah, that's right!" Then she turned right back to Monorua. "We're just wasting time now! And we're not gonna be able to do much of anything else until we have this next conference, right?"

Monorua paused, as if considering this. Then it sat back on its haunches and pressed its front paws together meekly, gaze trailing downwards as it pouted. "Aw, but," it started, "but if we have the next conference _now_, then the schedule's gonna be all sorts of messed up..."

"But it, like, doesn't really matter, does it?" asked Lyra, laying a finger against her cheek as she spoke. "I mean, if you say we're gonna be in here forever, then we have all the time in the world, right? So what's it matter?"

The zorua kept staring at its two front paws for a moment longer. "Come on, Monorua," Lyra pleaded, kneeling down in front of the creature to look it in the eyes. "Please?"

Monorua's head snapped up and its tail began wagging, thumping rapidly against the tabletop. "You got me!" It exclaimed. "I can't say no to a pretty girl on her knees~"

Lyra blinked, before smiling at what she had concluded to be a compliment, and Monorua flushed, panting and sweating.

"Does that mean that you're actually a boy?" Touko asked.

Monorua's visage was suddenly back to normal, no trace of any flush or sweat to be found. "Ehh, I'm Monorua! I don't care _what _pronouns you use. But be careful, otherwise you're gonna get social justice blogs all up in your faces!" It waved its paw dismissively in the air. "And furthermore, a pretty boy on _his _knees would get me going, too!" Then the panting and sweating was back as it spun to face Red expectantly. "Come on, Red, don't you want to have the next conference now, too?"

Red looked like he was physically ill, and went even paler than usual. But he didn't move, instead staring the zorua down with his distressed crimson gaze.

Monorua laughed boisterously, placing its paws on its belly. "No, Red's too boring! I like it when they're mouthy," it concluded, and Red trembled.

"Please," Akuroma cut in, staring steadily at the zorua, "may we commence the meeting?"

The creature stopped laughing abruptly, giving a single flick of its tail in annoyance. "Big scary scientist doesn't want me having any fun," it pouted, but continued nevertheless. "Alright! Since you bastards are so eager, I've graciously decided to move the next conference up to _now_!"

Everyone held their breaths in anticipation as Lyra made her way back to her seat, and those who had been standing sat back down. Monorua kicked aside an orange that remained at the center of the table and stood with its paws pressed together, tail arched and head raised in a sort of salute. "I'd like to call this conference to order," it announced formally. "As promised, our topic of discussion is how you bastards can get out of here!"

A few people shifted in their seats, but no one dared to speak up. Even Hugh was respectfully quiet, although he was gnashing his teeth together and fidgeting. But as the silence drew on, more people started to squirm. Bill coughed into his hand and shifted in his seat. Yancy was wringing her sleeve, whimpering and muttering under her breath. Kris finally let out a loud groan, but didn't say any intelligible words.

It was Proton who finally spoke up. "Well, the fuck is it, then?!"

"All you have to do is murder someone," Monorua answered casually.

The silence that fell over the room was palpable and suffocating. Touya felt all of the colour drain from his face as stars started to wink in the corners of his peripherals. His mouth hung open and went painfully dry. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, accelerating at an extreme pace.

Touya had no clue how long everyone sat there in silence. It could have been seconds. It could have been hours. But eventually Lyra spoke up, her voice small and girly. "Mur...der?"

"Beatingstabbingclubbingbeheadingburningsuffocatingstranglingslaughteringvoodoocursing..." Monorua had launched right into the list as soon as Lyra had spoken up, tilting its head back and forth as it rambled. "The act of killing another person! The method doesn't matter." And then, more to itself than to anyone else, Monorua clapped its front paws together. "I remembered the whole list! She's gonna be so proud of me~"

The room was silent and the tension was thick enough to swim in. "You're joking... right?" Green asked, the corner of his mouth twitching.

"Yeah, you're lying," Hugh said shakily, sweat beading on his brow.

Everyone else remained silent as a select few brave souls decided to voice their disbelief. They had just managed to begin to break through the suffocating atmosphere when Monorua retorted with a simple "nope, it's one hundred percent true!"

With that sentence, Caitlin suddenly sat bolt upright- every muscle in her body tensed and her hair billowed out around her, waves of distressed energy washing over the rest of the room. That raw emotional force gripped Touya mercilessly, clutching at his heart and plaguing his mind. He had to fight back the wave of nausea that overcame him. The sensation was alien and terrible- he'd felt sadness and fear before, sure, but nothing could even compare to the heart-rending panic and despair that had overcome him.

Touya wasn't the only one to be tormented by Caitlin's emotional state. Bill let out a strangulated wail and made to stand up, before his eyes rolled back and he slumped back into his seat. Yancy began loudly sobbing, the sound only matched by Kris' unintelligible screaming that was supposed to resemble words as she launched out of her chair and ran for one of the blocked windows, clawing at it and throwing herself against it with all of her might. Even those who didn't blatantly act out were affected- Touya could tell by their body language, their breathing, and their panicked glances around the room.

"It's a joke, right?" Lyra squeaked to Touya, but she didn't sound too confident. Touya didn't even have the confidence to reassure her.

"Everyone, _calm down_!"

In the face of panic, Touko had stood on her chair, using her hands to project her voice through the room. "No one's going to be killing _anyone_!" she assured, and at that moment, Touya envied and admired her confidence.

Just as the room started to quiet, Monorua made a sound that resembled a 'tsk'. "I thought you might think like that. Which is _whyyyyy..._"

Out of nowhere, Monorua produced a handful of brochures, scattering them at its paws and gesturing for everyone to take one. "I figured that you bastards could use some motivation!"

Touko hopped down from her perch on her chair and warily approached to grab a handful of brochures for the small side table. The wait was torture- Touya heard the others flipping through the paper and offering up terse comments long before he could see for himself. He nabbed the first one that hit the table, swiping it up and forcing his gaze to focus enough to examine it.

'THE LAP OF LUXURY' it said, written in the same juvenile crayon that the note from earlier had been written in. But underneath was not a crude drawing- no, it was what appeared to be a very real photograph of a beautiful beachfront mansion, complete with palm trees and golden sands and, perhaps the most tantalizing of all, a brilliant blue, cloudless sky.

"Whichever one of you bastards decides to up and kill someone," Monorua announced, prancing around the table and glancing at everyone's pamphlets, "will be living in the lap of luxury for the rest of their lives!"

As Touya numbly flipped through the brochure, overcome by just how surreal everything was, Monorua continued to outline what the following pages explained. "For starters, that lovely property you see on the front page will be all yours, free of charge! All funds will be taken care of by yours truly, so you can enjoy your 14-bedroom, 18-bathroom, 9,000 square foot mansion to the fullest! Each of these rooms has its own character and relaxing environment. All of them have in-room fireplaces, hand-painted ceilings, hardwood floors, and water-front views. Not to mention that you'll be waited on day and night by personal assistants in waiting, and will have every meal prepared fresh by the finest chefs that Unova has to offer, at no extra cost! No matter who you are, this Undella Bay-front home is all you could dream of, and more!"

Next were several pictures of other destinations that Touya couldn't quite place. "But if you grow tired of your own slice of heaven," Monorua continued, "then fear not- you'll also be eligible for vacations to a destination of your choice, whenever you desire! Want to go skiing in Sinnoh's Snowpoint City, or perhaps take a cruise to the tropical Sevii Islands? Everything is just a whim away!"

This went on for a while, Monorua rambling off luxuries with grandiose fanfare. Among these indulgences were a garage full of new cars, personal visitations with a slew of celebrities, and to top it all off, thirty million poké to do with whatever the winner pleases.

"And all you have to do," Monorua concluded, "is kill someone!"

Even Kris had crept back to flip through the pamphlet, and Bill had come to and grabbed one as well. Touya was astounded- that amount of money alone was definitely more than all of Nuvema Town had put together, and that wasn't even taking into account the other extravagant luxuries. He couldn't even fathom what he'd _do _with that type of money- and for a brief moment, he fantasized about living with Touko in that large house. Taking her on those vacations. Driving with her in those cars.

Then he was struck with crushing guilt. No. He couldn't think like that!

Following the guilt came paranoia.

How many others had those same thoughts?

"I get it," Lyra said finally, once more breaking the silence. She smoothed the pamphlet on the table in front of her and stretched, before clasping her hands together and, in spite of the current situation, smiling.

"We're all on a reality tv show, aren't we?"

All at once, everyone in the room turned to stare at Lyra. The brunette, empowered by so many incredulous eyes on hers, continued. "Everything makes sense! The cameras... and Monorua's the host, and now we've got a prize for everyone to compete for!" Determination flashed in her gaze as she spoke, confidence growing with every breath she took. She slammed a fist against her open palm and concluded, "so it's all just smoke and mirrors! And we're really on television!"

Slowly, everyone's gaze shifted from Lyra back to Monorua who, in turn, let out a dainty laugh of 'upupu'. "Somebody's a bright one," it said.

"I knew it!" Lyra exclaimed, and people began to rejoice.

"See, what'd I tell ya?" Green said, "we got everything we need out of this meeting!"

Yancy clung onto Green and sobbed tears of relief and joy. Bill, who had been shaky since he regained consciousness, was muttering about how it made sense, and it explained the wiring. Even Homika had let out a loud sound of acceptance and kicked back, placing her legs on the table and crossing them. "Jeez, you really had me going there, Monorua," she said.

But Touya- and most of the others- couldn't bring themselves to celebrate just yet. The zorua was still smirking and looking pleased with itself. Touya eyed it warily, only taking his eyes off of it to glance around and verify that he was not alone in his suspicions.

"'Dat was a real explosion," Kris muttered. Touya had to agree- the booming sound and the heat on his face from earlier that day in the conference room had been real, no matter how much he wished for the contrary.

"Before you get all caught up in the spotlight of the small screen," Monorua interjected, once more pulling a handful of things from out of nowhere, "we've still got rules to go over!"

It took Touya a moment, but he did recognize what the objects were.

"Look," Kris started, crinkling her nose as Monorua handed one to her, "I don't need a new pokedex. I's gotta perfectly good one, t'anks. Almost 100% completed, ta boot."

"This isn't a pokedex!" Monorua exclaimed, hopping off the long table to bring Touya and the others theirs. "This is a _Mono_Dex! And it's very important for your day-to-day lives, so try not to lose it!"

Upon closer inspection, Touya noticed that it was a bit different than the pokedex that he was familiar with. It was bulkier, and looked almost retro compared to what he was used to.

"When you first turn it on," Monorua continued, leaping now onto the side table to use as its podium, "please make sure that your own name is displayed!"

Touya had never held a real pokedex before. He'd had a toy one when he was a kid, but when he held this one- even if it had that unsettling black-and-white design that mimicked Monorua's colouring- he was overcome with a certain thrill. Curiously, he opened it up and pressed the large power button.

Immediately it flickered to life, and as promised, 'Touya Black' faded into view. The only other thing on the screen was a menu button- but before Touya could thoroughly examine any of the options, Kris had spoken up.

"Hey, oy," she grumbled, standing up and aggressively pointing the device in Monorua's direction. "How ya s'posed ta scan anythin' wit' 'dis? It ain't workin'!"

Monorua hissed towards Kris, hackles raised. "Didn't I just tell you? It's a _MonoDex_, not a pokedex! And even if it _was_, I'm not a pokemon, so it couldn't scan me anyway!"

"It don't scan nuttin'?" Kris scowled, slamming her MonoDex into the tabletop. "'Den what's 'da point?!"

"Hey, hey, it does _too _scan stuff! But that doesn't matter now," Monorua said, flicking its tail dismissively. "It's got a roster and a map and a copy of the school rules, so make sure to read them carefully. Remember: breaking the school rules is forbidden! I'm not gonna tell you bastards again! Rules are what bind us together as a society. Without rules, how can mankind live peacefully?"

Monorua giggled again, the ominous "upupupupu" washing over the silent room. "Well then," it announced, "with that, this conference has come to a close! Please, enjoy our gruesome conference life... for as long as you can, anyway!" And then, aside, it added, "and, ehh... remember: lap of luxury."

Then it leapt into the air, crashing down as a platter once more.

Everyone was left, stunned and motionless.

"Here it is," N spoke up softly, "the missing piece of the puzzle."

Archer let out a vague and distant sound of assent.

"Come on, guys! Chins up!" Lyra chirped. "Don't you get it? We're all on, like, MTV or something!" For show, she sauntered on over to one of the cameras, went on her tip-toes, and flashed her award-winning smile. "Hiiii! I'm Lyra!" she introduced, clasping her hands together in front of her. "I'm a small town girl with a big heart, so you should vote for me!"

As the people who believed Lyra warmed up to the cameras, everyone else remained tense and unmoving. Touko had placed her MonoDex back down and was staring blankly at the pamphlet, flipping through it even though her eyes were glossed over. "Oh my god," she said quietly. "Oh my god..."

Caitlin rose to her feet, her motions stiff and stunted, and went to stand by Akuroma. "Why is this happening?" she asked, her voice strained.

"I-I," Kris started, and even _her_ voice was shaky. She balled her hands into fists and brought them to her face, hiding behind them. "I don't... I d-don't..." and then she wailed, tucking herself into a ball and burying her face in her knees.

"Everyone, please," said N, and he stood up, towering over everyone else. "Stay calm."

"Stay calm?!" Kris demanded, peering up at him with puffy, red eyes. "How's I s'posed ta stay calm?!"

N didn't falter- instead, he looked to Touko and Touya in turn. "We have all of the necessary puzzle pieces. And Monorua has presented us with two options. The first: live a peaceful, communal life inside this school, indefinitely. And the second..."

"Kill someone in order to get out of here," Touko finished numbly.

Hearing those words from Touko's mouth made the whole situation sink in. "Kill someone?" Touya squeaked, wringing his hands nervously. "Th-there's no way...!"

"It's a lie," Hugh asserted. "It's gotta be!"

"According to the rules, it's not," Janine spoke up solemnly, not tearing her gaze away from the MonoDex in her hands. "Check them out. Monorua told us to, anyway."

With extreme effort to keep his hands from shaking too badly, Touya opened the menu on the screen of his MonoDex. He scrolled past the options marked 'roster' and 'map' in order to reach the one labeled 'rules'. And with a decisive press of his finger, he opened it. One by one, a list of rules appeared on the screen.

**1. The residents will live a communal lifestyle with no time limit inside the school walls.**

**2. The time between 10pm and 7am is called "Night Time". During Night Time, there are places that are forbidden to enter, so please take care.**

**3. You may investigate the school as you please. There are no special restrictions on your actions.**

**4. No violence is permitted against the school's headmaster, Monorua. Destruction of the surveillance cameras is forbidden.**

**5. A "culprit" who kills a fellow student will be allowed to leave. However, they must not let any other student know they are the culprit.**

**6. Additional rules may be added by the headmaster at any time.**

As much as Touya tried to deny the existence of rule five, his eyes were practically glued to the k-word. In his surreal state, that was the only thing to exist. No one else was in the room with him.

"What the hell," Hugh said, gripping his MonoDex so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. "What the... what the _hell_..." His crimson gaze snapped up to dart nervously around the room as he clenched his jaw. "He's still lying! That's all there is to it! He's lying, he's lying, he's _lying!_"

"Shut up," Proton growled, glowering Hugh's way.

Archer closed his MonoDex and set it on the table. "It doesn't matter whether it's a lie or not," he said, eyes fluttering shut. "What matters is whether or not someone here took it seriously."

Hearing that, everyone fell silent once again. Nobody said anything as they all glanced around, trying to search each other's inner thoughts. Traces of hostile feelings hung thick in the air. And then the true terror of Monorua's rules sunk in.

"I doubt they did," Proton said. And then, in a much darker tone, he added, "after all... what are the odds that there are two serial killers in here?"

Immediately, Touya shot to his feet and hurried away from the Sadist, earning a throaty laugh from the Rocket. "Calm your tits," he said. "I've already got my heart set on someone." He didn't even try to hide his gaze shifting to stare at Kris.

Touya searched desperately for a sign that Proton was kidding. He found nothing.

For her part, Kris narrowed her eyes threateningly right back at Proton. "Whatcha implyin', pally?"

Just as Proton's lips began curling into a dangerous, devilish smirk, Archer let out a vague sound of discontent. "You'll be killing no one," he said, the k-word rolling off of his tongue effortlessly. "Subtlety isn't your strong suit, Proton. You'd make a terrible mess, and there would be such obvious evidence that it would be embarrassing."

The beginnings of Proton's smug look quickly transformed into a scowl. "You don't control me," he retorted, dangerous and low.

Caitlin's voice cut in, surprisingly sharp despite its usually gentle tone. "How _dare _you speak of murder so simply."

Before she could say anything more, Kris piped up. "Hey, wait!" she exclaimed, narrow eyes growing wide in an instant. "You's sayin' you's gonna try an' kill me?! Ha! I'd like ta see ya try, schmuck! If ya get any closer ta me, I's gonna beat'cher head in 'til I hit tonsils!" She jumped up and shifted to a fighter's stance, raising both fists as she bounced on the balls of her feet. "C'mon, pally, put 'em up!"

Neither of the Rockets moved- the only sign that they had heard her at all was Archer's eyebrows slowly rising in amusement. "Kris," Akuroma warned, and the girl faltered. She made vague mewls of protest, wordlessly jerking her head in Proton's direction.

"Kris," Akuroma warned again, his voice slower and more deliberate this time. Kris hesitated for only a moment- then she snarled, made a snappy remark in their direction, and plopped back down in her seat, her arms crossed and her expression sour.

Taking advantage of the sudden lull, N cleared his throat and stood up. "Caitlin's correct," he agreed, "we shouldn't speak so freely about... _this_." He made a vague gesture with his hand. "Instead, we should turn our efforts to survival. I believe the best course of action we could take is to travel in groups from here on out-"

Before N could finish, Hugh slammed his fist on the table. "As if!" he shouted, glaring daggers at N. "Why should we listen to _you_?! You're one of _them _- I know it! And I'm not going to let you _kill me_!" And then, before anyone could react, he launched himself out of his seat and ran out of the cafeteria.

N could only stare after Hugh, stunned. "...Well," he started up again as soon as he regained his composure, "I suppose that no one is obligated to... but I _implore _you, please consider traveling in pairs. If you're with someone, it could potentially save your life."

"And," Akuroma added thoughtfully, "it could keep your partner from doing anything... unruly."

N nodded before turning his attention towards Lyra and the others, furrowing his brow as he figured out how to address them. "...please, for your own sake," he called.

"Forget 'em," Kris said, tearing her gaze away from the group to give N a shaky grin. "'Dey ain't gonna be botherin' no one." Interlacing her fingers with her cousin's, the two of them rose to their feet as Kris continued talking. "As fer travelin' in groups- I's _way _ahead'a ya!"

Caitlin took this opportunity to bow, her large sleeper's cap slouching forward just slightly. "I will be retiring to my room," she said simply. Fatigue was in her tone- her outburst earlier must've tired her out.

A few people bid her farewell, but an excited Kris cut through. "Hey, hey!" she exclaimed, bouncing excitedly from foot to foot. Then she charged forward, dragging Akuroma along, and she skidded to a halt next to Red. "Hey, Red! You should hang wit' us! Ditch 'dese zeros and hang wit' 'da heroes!" She still hung onto Akuroma's hand, twirling it around, hiding her face behind it, and nervously giggling. Akuroma did nothing to stop it.

Red stood there for a moment with wide eyes, before swiftly turning on his heel, pulling his cap down to cover his face, and hurrying after Caitlin.

Somewhere on the other side of the room, Lyra giggled, before guiltily slapping a hand over her mouth.

Kris' lower lip trembled for a brief moment as she stared after him, her grip on Akuroma's hand tightening. But within a second her visage was one of utmost pride once again. "Awright, I getcha! Catch ya on 'da flip side! Come on, Aku." And then, as if nothing had happened, she righted her grip on her cousin's hand and marched out the door.

Archer and Proton had made to follow, but they were cut off by N standing in their way. "No," he said simply, looking down at the both of them disdainfully. "You two are not to go out alone."

"Why the _fuck _not?!" Proton snarled. Spittle flew from his mouth and hit N's cheek. The Pokemon Whisperer flinched, just slightly, but his contemptuous gaze was relentless and unwavering. He reached up and wiped it away with the back of his hand.

"Because you are wanted criminals of Team Rocket," he answered, his tone dripping with unadulterated loathing. "My father has told me extensively about you. Your acts of violence and abuse towards pokemon. Your utilization of pokemon as mere prizes to be won. And now you have openly expressed desire and intent to murder, and such malicious actions cannot be ignored."

Archer sighed, steepling his fingers as the traces of a pleasant half-smile crossed his face. "Fair enough," he said. Proton scoffed and spat on the ground in response, grinding it into the tile with the toe of his boot.

"Touko and I will act as your escorts," he said evenly, unswayed by Archer's relatively pleasant demeanor.

Touko, who had been numbly staring into space until then, jerked and looked N's way. "What?" she asked as she reoriented herself with her surroundings. "Um, I... I mean, uh." She glanced down and, without thinking, grabbed for Touya's hand. "I was thinking of going with Touya, actually!" she called, raising their joined hands and grinning. "It'll give us time to catch up, and stuff!"

N's gaze had just flickered from Touko to Touya and back again, and he had just parted his lips to say more, when Janine spoke up. "I'll go with you," she said. She had been quiet and still until now, but as she spoke she stepped forward, not even wavering as she passed the two Rockets. "My dad taught me a thing or two about handling Rockets."

"Ah," Archer exhaled, seeming pleased. "I knew that I recognized you from somewhere... Janine."

Janine's jaw set. "Let's go," she said, turning her back to the Rockets and pulling ahead of N. The green-haired man cast Touko another meaningful look before he took up the rear, carting the two Rockets out as if they were prisoners.

Indeed, that fact did not go unnoticed. "Oh dear," Archer observed dryly, "it looks like we've been captured once more."

And then- with the exception of Lyra and the others, who were excitedly babbling amongst themselves on the far side of the cafeteria- Touya and Touko were the only ones left.

"Thanks for covering for me," Touko said, pulling her hand free from Touya's and scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "I don't really wanna be spending the whole day hanging around a bunch of criminals; you know what I'm saying?"

"Er, yeah," Touya said, his disappointment thinly veiled behind a smile.

Touko puffed out her cheeks. "Whaaaaat, you think I'm serious? I'm joking, silly!" She playfully punched his shoulder before laughing, slinging her arm around him. "C'mon, let's get out of here; they're getting on my nerves."

Touya agreed, feeling better already, and the two of them left the cafeteria.

A good friendship is one where you can pick right up where you had left off, no matter how long you and your friend spent apart. And for the terrible two from Nuvema, this was exactly the case.

Sure, there was the arbitrary catching-up that had to be done. This was mostly Touko talking, and Touya listening. Not much had happened since Touko left Nuvema Town- but Touya, who had hardly ever been outside of the small town in his entire life- wanted to hear _everything _about Touko's journey. And before too long, their situation was little more than a niggling thought in the back of their brains.

She told him about her oshawott named Wott, who had since evolved into a dewott. She told him about Lily and Leah, who were a lillipup and leavanny respectively. She told him about her battles with the Gym Leaders and how grand the world was outside of their quaint little hometown. She told him about the restaurant in Striaton City, and the stadiums and musicals in Nacrene City, and how the skyscrapers in Castelia City towered over her head- but then she had to correct herself, because she just remembered that Touya had seen them too, when he came to this conference.

Then she started talking about the people she'd met. There were the Gym Leader triplets, and the preschoolers at the daycare who looked up to her like some sort of hero. There was Fennel, who was interested in the dreams of pokemon and people alike, and there was Amanita, who designed Unova's pokemon storage system. And- oh, how could she forget? She also met N-

And just when she was about to talk about N, the two of them found themselves standing outside of the school store. This in itself wouldn't have necessarily been remarkable. The amount of merchandise that stared back at them with Monorua's face was unsettling, but certainly not enough to stop a conversation mid-sentence.

What drew the conversation to a sudden halt was a very real Monorua, sitting in silence on the counter, motionless with the exception of its steadily wagging tail.

Touko instinctively threw her arm protectively over Touya, ushering him behind her for protection. Then she- despite Touya's silent protests- crept inside, her narrowed gaze never tearing from Monorua's.

Touya peered over Touko's shoulder, unsure whether to be apprehensive or curious at the creature's unresponsiveness. Sure, its tail was wagging- but if Touya didn't know any better, he'd think that it really _was _just a toy. "Is it... really Monorua?" he asked after a while.

On cue, the creature's head tilted upwards to look directly at Touko. "Hi!" it said, sounding chipper.

"...Hi," Touya said hesitantly.

"Ehh?" Monorua drew a paw to its mouth and tilted its head to the side, for the first time noticing Touya hidden behind Touko's broader figure. "Oh, Touya's here too!" Delighted, its tail started wagging faster. "Touko and Touya, Touko and Touya, ToukoandTouya ToukoandTouya ToukoTouyaToukoTouyaToukoTouya!"

The duo simply stared at Monorua, blinking and searching for something to say.

"Are you two on a daaaate?" it asked cheekily, tilting its head the other way.

"It's not a date!" Touya exclaimed, just as Touko said "it's none of your business!"

Monorua giggled, covering its mouth with both paws. Touya noticed something shiny in its grip.

"Touko and Touya, sitting in a tree~!" Monorua howled playfully. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Hey, shut up!" Touko demanded, balling her hands into fists. "What are you doing here?!"

"And what've you got, there?" Touya added.

Monorua stopped mid-song, glancing down at the object in its hand. "Oh, this old thing?" it asked, before holding it out. "Here, take it!" it offered. Now that Touya could see it more clearly, he recognized it as a coin, although it was unlike anything he'd ever seen. It was copper, with Monorua's face etched into the visible side.

Touko reached out and grabbed it, holding it up to the light to examine it more closely.

"I'm here to teach you about the MonoMono Machine!" Monorua announced proudly, and with its tail it gestured towards the gashapon that sat not far beside him on the counter. It, too, had the black-and-white split design that Touya was swiftly coming to loathe.

"Um... what's there to teach?" Touko asked earnestly. "You put a coin in, you turn the lever, and you get a prize. It's pretty simple."

Monorua remained frozen for a moment. "Ruuuuuude," it pouted. Then it huffed, reaching its stubby paws for the coin. "I changed my mind! I want it back! I'm giving it to Touya instead, since Touya isn't ruuuude!"

A little stunned, Touko handed the coin back to Monorua, who then held it out for Touya to take. He, in turn, hesitantly grabbed it, holding it between thumb and forefinger. He wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do now.

As if answering his unspoken question, Monorua gestured a bit more aggressively towards the gashapon. "Go on, Super High School Level Lucky Ducklett! Try your luck!"

"Uh," Touya stammered, but before he could say anything else Monorua leapt into the air, somersaulted once, and crashed back down in the form of a large suit of armor.

"UH," Touya said again, even more confused now than he had been before.

"I'm just going to stop questioning things," Touko declared, and Touya decided that wasn't such a bad idea. "C'mon, Touya, give it a shot!"

"Oh, uh, you can do it if you want," Touya said abashedly, trying to hand the coin to her.

Touko, instead of taking it, closed his hand back around it. "Nah, you do it! Like Monorua said- you're Good Luck! You'll probably get something awesome from it."

In spite of himself, Touya felt a blush tint his cheeks. "Gosh," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, a sort of goofy smile spreading across his face. "Well... if you insist, I guess!"

He fumbled with the coin and put it in the machine, before kissing his hands for good luck and turning the knob. The action was met with a little resistance, but it gave and before too long, a bright violet capsule dropped into the receptacle. It was certainly a large enough capsule to contain something good.

"Open it!" Touko cheered, eyes alight with nostalgia. Spurred on by her glee, Touya reached down, struggling somewhat with the large plastic, but quickly enough he managed to get it open. A small bottle nearly fell out, but Touya managed to catch it just before it slipped from his grip.

"Eau de Toilette?" Touya read, crinkling his nose. He didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but he was pretty sure he recognized 'toilet' and he wasn't sure if he wanted to keep holding the bottle- no matter how fancy it was- if it had anything to do with a toilet.

Touko laughed, hiding her face in her palm. "It's perfume, Touya!" she explained with a smile.

"Lucky Ducklett my ass," Touya grumbled. "What am I supposed to do with perfume?"

"Here, let me see it," said Touko, and Touya handed it over.

In an instant, Touko's laughing fit subsided. "Hang on," she mumbled, squinting at the label, mouthing what she read to herself. "_Amore Amore_... isn't that the really fancy perfume from Kalos?"

Touya shrugged helplessly, making a sound to indicate just how clueless he was. In spite of this, however, Touko was practically beaming at him now. "_Man_, Touya! I'm, like, ninety nine percent sure it is! How do you _do _that? The whole... the whole luck thing!"

The poor brunet was overwhelmed. "I, uh, I dunno?" She handed him back the bottle of perfume when inspiration struck him. He started to wonder if it was a good idea- before he remembered his new philosophy of not questioning things. Instead, he simply acted.

"Hey, Touko," he said, balling his free hand into a nervous fist before offering the perfume to her once more. "Y-you can have it, if you'd like. You'll... smell good. Like, uh, you do anyway, but... but, um... yeah."

Silence hung heavy in the air, and Touya became very conscious of how his hair looked, and his posture, and his breathing. It could have been a second. It could have been an hour. Whatever it was- the wait was torture.

Relief came when Touko laughed again. "Nah, I'm good," she said. "Perfume and that junk just isn't my style! It'd be wasted on me."

Touya deflated, barely managing to hide it behind a practiced smile. "Alright," he said as he slipped the bottle into one of his jacket pockets, even though he was dying inside. She was right, of course- he knew that, too. Her brutal honesty was something else that Touya admired about her. He'd just have to get his hands on some more coins and get her a gift that was more, as she put it, her style.

Shortly after that, the two of them left the school store and resumed their aimless wandering. Touko hemmed and hawed as she tried to remember where she had left off in her story. "Oh, yeah! I was just getting to N," she announced, and then she talked about him.

She talked about when she first met him and he said he could talk to pokemon, and said that her pokemon seemed to really like her. Then she talked about how he was there just before Team Plasma stole the dragonite skull from the Nacrene museum, and how helpful it would've been if he'd been there to help chase them down.

"Touko," Touya interjected, not entirely comfortable with the path that the conversation had taken, "I don't mean to... point fingers, or anything. But did you ever consider that maybe he's a _part _of Team Plasma?"

The girl stopped in her tracks so suddenly that Touya almost bumped into her. "...Yeah," she admitted after a long while. "I mean... a little, I guess." She gave Touya a saddened look. "But it's not... really the same, is it? Team Plasma talks about pokemon liberation, but... they just keep the pokemon for themselves. They steal pokemon from preschoolers... they steal from museums. Everyone who says that they're evil is basing it off of what the grunts do. Like Hugh... I'm sure that if he knew what Team Plasma was _really _like, he wouldn't hate them. I mean, the grunts do all this petty crime stuff, but N..." again she fell into a short silence.

"N what?" Touya asked softly.

Without warning, Touko started walking again. "N's... different," she said, struggling to find the right words. "He really wants what's best for pokemon. And if he really is in Team Plasma, then... then maybe they should start listening to him a lot more. He's got really good ideas. I love my pokemon... I really do, don't get me wrong. And he tells me I'm different. But there are so many trainers in the world who just... don't have that kind of connection. And their pokemon shouldn't have to suffer."

It took a long moment for Touya to fully process what Touko was implying. "You agree with him?"

Touko inhaled deeply before she nodded. "Yeah," she said.

Touya felt his heart sinking into his stomach. Wasn't Touko supposed to be a hero? Fighting against Team Plasma and all that it stood for? Why was she standing here, talking like she agreed with them?

"Then why haven't you _liberated _your pokemon?" Touya asked, eyes narrowed.

This time, Touko slowed to a stop instead of reaching an abrupt halt. "I'm different," she repeated, and she wrapped her arms around herself, acting uncharacteristically timid and unsure. "He says I'm the Hero of Truth, and that it's my destiny to battle him someday."

"And you believe him?"

"Yeah."

Touya took a few steady breaths, trying his best to keep his tone even. "Why?"

Touko let out a long sigh and shut her eyes. "Because... because it means that I _matter_, Touya. For the first time, I'm really important to someone. That's more than I thought would ever be possible until I left Nuvema."

Those words struck Touya like a bolt of lightning to the heart. He froze as he tried desperately to keep his more impulsive reactions at bay. He wanted to tell her that she _had _been important to someone before she left Nuvema. She'd been important to _him_.

But then he ditched his new philosophy, questioned it, and decided not to. He wasn't in the mood to be rejected again.

Instead, he said, "I see." He went silent, staring a hole at the space between his feet. He didn't have anything else to say.

They didn't move, and they didn't speak. Touya felt drained, and didn't particularly want to be around _anyone _right now. "...hey," he spoke up, softly. "I... I think I'm gonna head back to my room."

Touko slumped a little, looking Touya's way with those beautiful, sad eyes of hers. He knew in an instant that she understood he wanted to be alone- they had been best friends for years, and best friends pick up on that sort of thing. "Alright," she said, the corners of her lips trying to twitch into a smile. "I, um... I won't tell N that we went off on our own if you don't."

Touya nodded. "Will you be alright?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Alright," he said. "I'll see you around, then."

"Yeah."

And with that, Touya tugged down the brim of his cap and started off on his own down the hall.

Touya's wandering feet brought him to the dormitories, which he was only now getting a proper look at. Each door was marked with a stylized, sprite-like picture of its resident- the first one he approached was Yancy's door, whose sprite even had her wide-brimmed hat. He found the pictures oddly charming, and since he was really in no rush to get to his room, he started admiring each one.

He had only gotten through a few doors when he reached one that was slightly ajar. It was just barely different from all of the other doors, but it was enough of a difference to make Touya's heart leap into his throat. "Caitlin?" he called, but received no answer. '_Why is her door open?' _he asked himself. She wasn't... she hadn't been attacked, had she?

Before Touya could think too much about it, he panicked and rushed into the room, trying to keep his steps light as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He picked up faint movement on the bed, and only then did his actions sink in. Why on _earth_ had he rushed into a girl's room, uninvited? And _Caitlin's _room, no less!

He froze like a deerling caught in headlights, trying to work his muscles into leaving the room. His eyes had adjusted more, now that light was filtering in from the hallway. Caitlin was there in bed, breathing and alive and decidedly not dead. Maybe if he got out quickly and quietly enough, he'd be able to pretend nothing had happened!

"Touya," Caitlin said softly, and all hopes of a clean getaway were lost.

"Um," Touya stammered, desperately searching for proper words, "hi."

"Hello," she said in a deadpan tone. She'd opened her eyes, now, peering at him through the darkness.

Touya coughed into his hand, not exactly sure what he was expected to do now. "Your, ah... your door was open," he explained weakly, gesturing towards the doorway. "Considering, um... what we found out at lunch, you... probably shouldn't do that."

Caitlin blinked as she slowly turned her head to look at the door, before sitting up. "I suppose I did leave it open," she admitted, tracing her finger along the blanket that was still sprawled over her lower half. She bowed her head. "I apologize for worrying you."

"Oh, no!" Touya exclaimed, putting up his hands in front of him. "Don't apologize! I just wanted to make sure you were okay, is all!"

The blonde didn't respond right away, and Touya wondered briefly if he was supposed to leave at this point. Caitlin looked like she was just about ready to fall back asleep-

"No," she said suddenly, "I'm rested enough, for the time being."

Touya was startled. "Um, did I say that out loud?" he asked.

She side-eyed him. "No, I just have good intuition," she said.

"Oh-"

"I'm kidding," she interjected. "I'm **an esper**."

"...Oh," Touya said again. "Right."

Again the two of them lapsed into silence, Touya shifting his weight from foot to foot, throwing glances from the door to Caitlin and back again. "Would you get the light for me, Touya?" Caitlin asked suddenly, and Touya, filled with nervous energy, practically jumped at the chance to exert some of it.

"Sure," he said, and he bounded over to the doorway to find the light switch. He found it without much trouble and flicked the lights on, before turning around to see that- oh god, everything was pink. The bedspread was pink, the carpet was pink, the tablecloth was pink, and to top it all off, Caitlin was still dressed in her ensemble of entirely pink. It wasn't unpleasant- the shade was pale, rather than bright- but it was certainly overwhelming.

Maybe this was a chance to have a fresh start with the Elite, Touya thought optimistically. "Hey, Caitlin," he ventured, earning her attention. "If you're not going back to sleep... would you like to hang out? Maybe?" He winced at how painfully informal the question sounded.

Caitlin blinked at him, slowly and deliberately. "Hm," she mused, closing her eyes again. "I'm getting the impression that it's customary to present one with a gift of some sort before asking that question," she said.

Touya had never heard of that before, but then again, Nuvema Town wasn't exactly the fanciest place in Unova. "Oh! Uh," he stuttered. Then he paused- this time, he wasn't unprepared. He smoothly reached into his pocket and withdrew the bottle of perfume from earlier. "In that case," he said, and he moved as close to Caitlin's bed as his nerves would allow before he held out the bottle for her. "I'd like you to have this."

Caitlin said nothing, instead opting to delicately pick up the perfume with both hands. She brought it into her lap, examining the label as her lips parted slightly. She sprayed a small amount onto the inside of her wrist, before curiously bringing it to her nose to test. The pleasant and faint smell of lavender filled the air.

Her hand dropped back down to her lap and she remained silent for a moment more, side-eying Touya again. "I don't know how you got this," she said. "But it is... very gracious of you."

Touya beamed.

"I was kidding, you know," she said, as she sprayed the perfume on her other wrist before setting in on her nightstand, and turning to look Touya head-on. "You didn't have to give me anything."

Touya's smile faltered a little.

"I suppose that the least I can do is agree to... 'hang out' with you," Caitlin continued, shifting beneath the blankets so she was seated on her knees. "However, only on the condition that we do not leave the room. There is nothing of interest for me, out there."

The brunet nodded eagerly, the smile already crossing his face once again.

"Then please, sit down," she said, gesturing towards the chair that was in front of her desk. Touya pulled it over near the foot of her bed and sat down on it, sitting with his hands folded neatly on his lap. He wasn't quite sure where to begin.

"It's such a relief," Caitlin admitted, "that you don't expect me to exert too much energy. Exploring with Akuroma and Kris was..." her gaze dropped to her lap. "Not a pleasant experience. I knew it wouldn't be."

"If you knew it wouldn't be, then why did you agree to go?" Touya asked, startled.

She looked back up at him, lips parted as she quietly sighed. "I cannot find it in my heart to decline such a polite invitation," she admitted. "It is something that Darach has instilled in me for as long as I can remember."

"Oh, yeah, you mentioned him before, didn't you? Who is he, if you don't mind me asking?"

If Touya didn't know any better, he'd think that he saw Caitlin smile. "He was my valet while I lived in Sinnoh," she explained. "He has been with me since I was very young."

Touya let out a vague sound of understanding. "Do you get to see him anymore?"

"Oh, yes," Caitlin said, and she let out a delicate, quiet giggle. "He still insists on coming to Unova quite often to clean my villa."

"Ha!" Touya smiled. "That must be nice."

"Yes," she agreed. "It is."

Although at the beginning Touya doubted the possibility of carrying out a conversation with Lady Caitlin of the Elite Four, soon enough the two of them managed to be conversing fluidly and freely. It, as usual, was mostly Touya listening while his conversational partner- in this case, Caitlin- spoke about herself. But Touya was fine with that. He liked listening, anyway.

The conversation only drew to a natural lull when the warm, enticing scent of food drifted into the room. On cue, Touya's stomach growled, reminding him that he had never gotten any lunch. "Man, I'm hungry," he said, placing a hand against his stomach. He looked Caitlin's way. "Want dinner?" he asked her, standing up to leave.

Caitlin's gaze shifted from Touya, to the door, and back again. "...yes," she answered hesitantly. Her eyelids were drooping by this point, and it took until now for Touya to realize how much time had passed. "Would you mind bringing me a plate?"

Touya flashed her a thumbs-up. "Of course," he said. "I'll be right back."

"Thank you," Caitlin said, before hiding a yawn behind her hand.

The young man stood up and stretched, as he hadn't moved much since the conversation started. He made sure to close the door behind him as he left. He couldn't lock it, but at least closing it was better than leaving it ajar.

He half-jogged down the hallway and made a sharp turn into the cafeteria to hear bursts of loud chatter and the clinking of silverware. The delectable scent of food was overpowering- Touya was practically drooling as soon as he entered the room, and he hurried to wipe it on his sleeve before anyone saw.

The tables downstairs were covered with foods of all sorts. One table had at least a dozen different types of meat, while another seemed to boast colourful vegetarian dishes that tempted even Touya, who had never been a fan of vegetarian foods in his life. Another table still had various soups and salads while the last table had dozens of desserts to choose from.

"Welcome, welcome!" Monorua called, waving to Touya with a paw. "Welcome to the Welcome-to-the-Conference feast! Everything you eat tonight is prepared by our _amazing _chefs- the very same ones that will be yours _personally _with our Lap-of-Luxury prize package!"

Touya was too hungry to even comment on Monorua's thinly-veiled reminder. He brushed past the zorua and headed down the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. Then he grabbed two plates, filling them to the brim with anything and everything that he thought he or Caitlin would like. (Of course, he also shamelessly sampled things as he passed them, but that's neither here nor there.)

Then like a bullet, he shot back up the stairs and headed out the door, both plates in tow. He didn't even falter when Monorua flushed red, hackles raised, and shouted, "hey! You can't just grab the food and leave! That's ruuuuude!"

Holding one plate in the crook of his arm, Touya knocked twice on Caitlin door and let himself in. "I brought a feast!" he announced, only to slow to a stop. Everything was exactly as he'd left it- the lights were still on, and the chair was still at the end of the bed. All that had changed was that Caitlin had now curled up, her long, flowing hair sprawled all around her as she slept.

Instantly Touya tried to be lighter on his feet. "Sorry," he whispered, even though he was pretty sure she wasn't able to hear him. Unsure what to do with the extra plate of food, he crept over and placed it on her nightstand, right next to the bottle of perfume. She'd probably be hungry when she woke up. And even if the food was cold, at least it was food.

Then he backed up towards the door, flipping the light switch as he backed into the hall. "Goodnight," he said with a smile, and closed the door behind him.

He had planned to eat there with her, but he wasn't going to intrude. If she wanted to sleep, he was going to let her sleep.

With nowhere else to really go, Touya returned to the cafeteria. It seemed like everyone else had already arrived and served themselves- the majority of people were seated at one of the long tables, with a few people scattered about the smaller surrounding tables. Archer, Proton, and surprisingly Akuroma were seated off to the side, talking amongst themselves and laughing loudly. Kris and Hugh sat at a table of their own not too far away, seemingly in the midst of a very intense debate.

Everyone else sat together, and as soon as Lyra noticed Touya returning, she flashed him a wide smile and invited him to sit next to her. Monorua made a comment about the 'dine-and-ditcher' returning to the scene of the crime, and how he'd better enjoy the food twice as much now in order to make up for it.

And while Touya had rolled his eyes at the time the comment was made, he quickly found out that the food on his plate was definitely the most delicious food he had ever eaten. No offense to his mother, but she couldn't cook anything even _close _to what was being served here. He went back for seconds, and then thirds.

For that little while, nobody was thinking about murder, or the fact that they were trapped. It's impossible to feel despair when your stomach's full with delicious food. (Touya wasn't entirely sure how scientific that claim was, but he was convinced, in that moment, that it was completely true.)

Long after dinner time had passed, the residents stayed in the cafeteria, laughing and joking and talking. Even when the hour grew late, people were being friendly and jubilant. Lyra rested her head on Green's shoulder as she dozed off, and he had his arm around her for support. Yancy and Bill were still talking spiritedly about the newer models of Xtransceivers. Even Red, whom Touya had never even seen smile before, seemed to be enjoying himself.

Monorua was ultimately the one to draw the night to a close. It leapt onto one of the empty tables with a glass in one hand and a spoon in the other- it clinked the two together as if it were about to make a toast. "Ehh, it's now 10pm!" it announced as soon as it had everyone's attention. "Night time begins now."

A few sounds of disappointment rung out, but Monorua didn't stop. "The cafeteria doors will be locked soon, so hurry on out of here! I hope you enjoyed the Welcome-to-the-Conference feast! And remember: it can all be yours! You know what you have to do~"

Mumbling and grumbling to themselves, the people seated at the long table stood up one-by-one, brushing crumbs off of their clothes and eating any final bites that they could muster.

"Hm," Janine pondered. "What should we do tomorrow morning?"

"I dunno," Lyra answered sleepily. "I wanna go to beeeed."

"Janine makes a good point," N said. "Night time's over at seven, right, Monorua?"

"Yep!" Monorua answered promptly.

"I propose that we meet up here at seven," N said. "Then we can figure out what to do from there. Agreed?"

Everyone agreed.

The group split up after that- Touya found his way to his room (which, as it turned out, was between Touko's and Archer's) and opened the door, flicking on the light. He was relieved to find that his room wasn't pink at all. Instead, his furniture seemed to be mostly shades of blue and red, matching his outfit almost perfectly.

"Fancy," he said to himself- just in time for one of the chairs at the table to suddenly turn into Monorua.

Touya yelped, jumping in surprise. "Touya!" Monorua said urgently, staring up at him. "It's terrible! Absolutely, terribly, _terrible! _Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad!_"_

The young man felt his pulse quicken. "What is it?" he asked.

"I have to tell you," Monorua continued, "...that your doorbell doesn't work!"

"...Huh?"

Monorua's entire demeanor changed from one of urgency to one that was significantly more casual. "Your doorbell doesn't work! It's the only one out of everyone's doorbells that doesn't work!"

Touya blinked hard as he processed this.

"So if you're expecting any _lady friends_, make sure to tell them to knock, knock, knock!" Monorua laughed uproariously as Touya proceeded to stare for a moment, before brushing past him and throwing himself onto the bed.

"Ehh... it's a bit ironic, isn't it?" Monorua asked, tottering around to look at Touya. "You're the Super High School Level _Lucky Ducklett_... but you've got the room with the bad doorbell!" It laughed again. "It doesn't fit at all!"

Touya just kept lying there, not even gracing the zorua with a response.

"...Mooou," Monorua pouted suddenly. "Touya-kun's no fuuuun."

Before the young man could comment on its sudden change of character, there was another pop as Monorua turned back into the chair. Touya got up, grabbed the chair, dragged it to the door, and threw it into the hall.

While he was there, he tested the doorbell- indeed, nothing seemed to happen when he pressed it. "Great," he groaned. Then he closed the door, locked it, and set about getting ready for bed. He changed into the pajamas that he found under his pillow, brushed his teeth, turned off the lights, and once more collapsed onto his bed.

He wasn't really sleepy, but his body was incredibly weary. It was a surreal sort of fatigue that he hadn't experienced before. He tossed and turned as he tried to fall asleep, but no matter how much he tried, his mind continued to race.

_'If I go to sleep, maybe everything will have been a bad dream,' _he told himself. '_That would be... the best thing ever.'_

In the early hours of the morning, he did finally get to sleep. He dreamed about him and Touko being back in Nuvema Town, hanging out in Touko's room, when suddenly N crawled out from under her bed. Then N turned into Monorua and it tried to cover Touya in butter.

_Ding dong, ding dong._

"Good morning, you bastards! It's 7:00! Time to wake up!" Monorua's voice rang through the intercom. "Let's strive to do our best today!"

When Touya woke up, he forgot the dream entirely.

He blearily blinked awake, rubbing his eyes as he yawned. He was still exhausted. In a rush, everything that had happened yesterday came back to him. Suddenly, it became even more difficult to motivate himself to get out of bed.

"If I don't," he muttered to himself as he sat up, "they'll think I've been..." he paused for a moment. "...k-worded."

That was enough to get him to roll over and onto the floor, groping about for his clothes. His morning passed in a blur- at some point he must've started to wake up a little more, because by the time he placed his cap on his head- the final part of his morning ritual- he was at least alert enough to notice a small sheet of paper on the floor by his door.

He walked over to it and bent down to pick it up. The handwriting on it was sloppy, but not illegible.

_Hello! You have been selected as a warrior to help fight against the evils of Team Plasma! Please report to my room at 1:00 tonight to join the revolution! -Hugh_

Touya read it over once more to make sure he hadn't missed anything, before he crumpled it into a ball and tossed it over his shoulder. "Yeaaah, no," he said. He wasn't about to fight some imaginary war that he wanted nothing to do with- _especially _if Hugh was the one organizing it.

Instead, he stepped into the hallway and very nearly tripped over the chair that he had left there last night. Only at the last moment did he manage to maneuver around it. He'd have to take care of it later.

As instructed, Touya reported to the cafeteria before he did anything else. A fair few people had beaten him there.

"Good morning, Touya!" Lyra greeted, almost criminally chipper for such an early hour.

"Morning," he responded, barely managing half of her enthusiasm.

The majority of the group waited in silence as a few others trickled in. By the time it was 7:30, nobody had come in for a solid ten minutes.

"Who are we missing?" asked Janine, counting the heads of those scattered about the room.

"Kris is not here yet." Akuroma was the first to speak up. "And Hugh, as well."

"And Touko's not here," Touya added. "Or... or Caitlin."

The mood of the whole room shifted in a heartbeat. Everyone knew that everyone else was thinking the exact same thing.

"...I'm sure they just overslept," said Lyra. "I think I'm gonna go wake them up!"

"Wait," N cut in. "Please, take someone with you!"

Lyra held N's gaze for a moment, before rolling her eyes dramatically. "_Fine_," she said. "If it'll make you feel better, I will." Her attention turned towards everyone else in the room. "Okay, who wants to come with?"

Touya practically jumped out of his seat. "I'll go," he volunteered.

"Yay!" Lyra cheered, clapping her hands together. She raced forwards to grab Touya's hand, but faltered as she got close. "Are you sure? You don't look so hot." She placed a hand to his forehead, her mouth twisting into a thoughtful frown.

"I'm sure," Touya insisted, and he started towards the door. He hadn't noticed that the colour had drained from his face and his hands had gone clammy. His breathing was shallow, and his pulse was pounding in his ears. But he was also fully aware that the only way to quash this rising panic was to confirm that he had nothing to worry about.

Lyra shrugged. "Alrighty then!" she agreed, and then she turned to wave to the rest of the cafeteria. "We'll be back in a jiffy!"

Touko's room was the closest- in fact, it was the second door away from the cafeteria, only preceded by Bill's. Touya hurried up to it and knocked, urgently. "Touko?" he called as he knocked. Then he rung the doorbell, called her name a bit louder, and rung the doorbell again.

"Touko?!" His voice had risen to a veritable panic by the time that the door swung open to reveal Touko. She was dressed half in her usual clothes and half in her pajamas, her hair was mussed up and partially falling out of her ponytail, and she looked like she had just woken up. She staggered as she stood there, staring bleary-eyed at the frantic brunet.

"Touya," she said sleepily, blinking at him. "Hi. What's up?"

Damn it, she was beautiful even in a state like this.

Touya lurched forward without thinking, wrapping his arms around Touko and holding her close. Stunned, Touko hesitated for a moment before she gently wrapped her arms around him in return. Touya rested his head on his shoulder as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Behind him, Lyra giggled. "Good morning, sleepy head!" she greeted. "Did you sleep through the announcement?"

To address Lyra, Touko pulled away. "Announcement?" she repeated in confusion.

"Yep! Monorua woke us up at seven on the nose!" Lyra explained.

Touko rubbed the back of her neck. "I, uh... I must've slept through it," she said sheepishly. "Sorry. Had a... rough night."

"No worries, no worries!" Lyra laughed, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. "Everyone's worried about you for some reason, so you should get dressed and head to the cafeteria A-S-A-P, okay?"

"Ah, crap," Touko groaned. "Cafeteria, right. Sorry! Lemme just get dressed." She made to close the door, but just before it clicked shut, she added, "thanks for the wake up call."

And then she closed the door, and Touya felt a lot better.

Just around the corner was Caitlin's room, which Touya went to next. "Caitlin?" he called, but he wasn't nearly as panicked as he had been with Touko. He rapped his knuckles against the wooden door a few times, and then rung the doorbell. He called for her again, but received no answer.

"Maybe it's unlocked," Lyra suggested- and _then _he panicked.

"Caitlin?!" He reached for the handle and tested it- sure enough, it was unlocked, just as it had been last night. He shouldered his way in, not caring if the door slammed against the wall or how much noise he made. All he wanted right now was to confirm that Caitlin was just as she was last night- breathing, and alive, and not dead.

As light filtered in from the hallway, Touya saw Caitlin lying motionless in her bed. He called out her name again, throwing caution to the four winds as he rushed right up to her, touching one of her arms.

Instantly her eyes shot open, and a wave of panicked energy washed through the room. It ended as swiftly as it began, though, as Caitlin blinked up at Touya, the etches of a sleepy scowl on her face. "Don't do that," she said curtly.

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Touya apologized, springing back and trying to keep his hands from shaking too much. That burst of empathy was definitely not what he needed at the moment; he had a hard enough time overcoming his nausea _before _he had to deal with Caitlin's raw emotion as well.

"Did you sleep through the announcement?" Lyra asked from the doorway.

"No," Caitlin responded nonchalantly as she righted the sleeve that Touya had mussed up in his panic. "The announcement woke me up, and I went back to sleep."

It was hard to be mad at Caitlin when she was alive. "Okay. Okay, that's great!" Touya said, clutching at his gut. "Just, please- _please , _Caitlin- make sure to lock your door from now on? Please?!"

Caitlin's gaze shifted from Touya to the door, which was now open wide.

"...I suppose I can try," she said gently.

"Touya, I'm gonna go ahead and wake up Hugh," Lyra called, before disappearing down the hallway.

The brunet followed Lyra not long after. He apologized again for his impulsive actions, begging for Caitlin's forgiveness. Then he asked her what she was going to do now, and she explained that she was going to go back to sleep, and she asked Touya to please close the door when he left. Touya did so, apologizing one last time as the door clicked shut.

A short distance down the hall was Hugh's room, with Lyra standing outside of it. "Yoo-hoo, Huuuugh," she called, ringing the doorbell as Touya approached, "rise and shine, you silly sleepy head!"

She cast Touya a troubled look as he approached. "He isn't waking up," she pouted.

Touya knocked hard on the door, before reaching for the doorknob to check if it was open. He was surprised for a moment when it was, but that surprise quickly gave way to exasperation; considering the circumstances, he'd think that more people would take locking their doors seriously.

Lyra snaked her way inside first this time, Touya followed close behind. Hugh was still in bed, his covers pushed down past his middle and one of his pillows on the floor.

"Wakey wakey," Lyra sing-songed as she approached his bedside, gently shaking his arm. "Eggs and-"

Touya noticed that something was off at the exact moment that Lyra suddenly went quiet. Maybe it was the eerie silence. Or maybe it was the fact that the Vigilante wasn't moving at all. Or maybe it was the smell- faintly rancid and pungent, like nothing he had ever smelled before.

"...Touya," Lyra whispered, her voice cracking.

He looked at her: her shoulders were rising and falling rapidly, her eyes were wide, and her arms were trembling, her hands still pressed firmly against his skin. "Touya... T-Touya, he's... he's really cold..."

The brunet, acting on impulse alone, rushed forward and touched his hand to Hugh's skin. His cold, tight, and purpled skin.

And all he could feel was death.


	5. Good Morning, Good Night (Act 2)

**[GOOD MORNING, GOOD NIGHT]**

Lyra screamed just as Touya remembered to breathe. She threw herself backwards, stumbling and falling against the far wall. Her eyes were wide and focused intently on Hugh's body until she buried her face in her hands, screaming again.

Touya tottered backwards too, his hands slipping off of Hugh's lifeless arm. Every breath he took was a conscious effort, especially now that he placed the smell in the air as that of death. His mouth was moving as if he were speaking, but he couldn't manage to say anything.

Lyra was crying now, burying her face in her knees and tucking into the fetal position on the floor. Her entire body was wracked with sobs, and Touya had just begun to process the thought that he should do something when sudden commotion from the doorway caught his attention.

The door slammed against the wall as Touko sprinted in, now completely dressed with her ponytail redone. "Are you guys okay?!" she asked urgently, skidding to an abrupt halt near Touya. "What was that scream?!"

Touya couldn't form a coherent sentence for the life of him. He instead could only cover his mouth, dry heaving as his vision began to blur. He heard Touko shout, and he heard more commotion coming from the doorway, and somebody else rushed past him just as the loudspeaker in the room crackled to life.

_Ding dong, ding dong_.

Lyra's inconsolable crying continued even as the rest of the cacophony of noise died down, allowing Monorua's identifiable voice to wash over them. "A body's been found! A body's been found!" it exclaimed. "Please gather in the conference room as soon as possible, you bastards!"

Distressed voices came from the hallway as the loudspeakers silenced. More people rushed in, crying out and yelling and screaming, their words hardly audible over the pounding in Touya's ears. It was as if a haze had drifted in and settled all around him, clouding everything and everyone from view. Teetering unevenly, he made his way slowly towards the doorway, being jostled as the last of the crowd from the cafeteria squeezed into the room.

He thought that maybe, if he made it into the hallway, things would be better. It was the only coherent thought strong enough to make any semblance of sense in his addled state.

But as he stumbled into the hallway and urged himself to breathe, he knew that nothing was different. He was just as trapped in the hallway as he had been in the room. Lyra was still crying and people were still yelling to be heard over each other and everything still smelled like death.

Hugh was still dead.

As soon as that thought penetrated his haze, Touya took a shuddering breath. He fell to his knees, ground the palms of his hands into his eyes, and finally screamed.

"You talk to him. You're better at this sort of thing."

It was Touko's voice that finally shook him from his state of despair. He blinked hard to find that his eyes were incredibly dry, and as he shifted slightly, he felt that the muscles in his back and shoulders were sore.

"Touya?"

He was quick to place that as N's voice, and as his gaze trailed upwards he saw the green-haired man crouched tentatively in front of him, his elbows on his thighs. Touya managed to croak out something incoherent.

N glanced up at Touko briefly, and when she nodded he placed a gentle hand on Touya's shoulder. The young man jerked in turn, but not enough to escape his touch.

"Touya," N repeated softly, "you have to stand up."

Someone had closed the door to Hugh's room, and the pungent smell wasn't as noticable now. But Touya was still slow to reorient himself. He managed to move his neck just enough to peer at N from the very corner of his eye.

"Dealing with death- even the death of a human- always proves to be a daunting task," N continued, rubbing Touya's shoulder the way one might pet a pokemon. "And hope may seem in short supply, but that is the way of the world. Everything eventually meets an end. Hugh met his just now- but you're still here, Touya. Your end has not yet come. It is up to you to make the best of this opportunity. You can stay here on the floor, wishing that Hugh had more time. Or you can stand up once again, take back the control of your own life, and call to the high heavens that your time does _not _end here."

Touya groaned again as he braced himself on shaky arms, the muscles in his body protesting with each move he made. His head hurt. N smiled, slipping his hand off of Touya's shoulder and instead offering it to him for leverage. The Lucky Ducklett stared blankly at it for a long moment before he took it, allowing the Pokemon Whisperer to pull him onto his feet.

"I knew you would make the right choice," exhaled N. Touya still stared blearily at the floor. He may have been standing, but his new pose did nothing to change his bleak situation. It may be true that his time didn't end here- but any and all motivation to move certainly did.

"How's progress?" asked a voice that Touya identified as Akuroma's. He glanced up, his motions gradually growing less sluggish, to find the Scientist standing at the end of the hall, his cousin in tow.

Kris was still dressed in a t-shirt that was at least four sizes too big- presumably her pajamas- practically reaching her knees. Her hair was down (although it still managed to inexplicably jut upwards near the tips) and she was rubbing sleep from her eyes, her grip on the sleeve of Akuroma's lab coat painting her in a much cuter light than Touya was comfortable with.

Touko responded, flashing Akuroma a shaky thumbs up. "We've got him," she replied, "let's head back."

It took Touko's hand wrapping around his own to spur Touya into stumbling forward, reacquainting himself with his body. "Come on," she said to him under her breath, gently tugging him forward. He could feel her hand shaking in his. "It's just you and Kris we're waiting on."

Akuroma and Kris were walking just a few paces ahead of the trio, and Touya picked up bits and pieces of Kris' sleepy words. "What 'appened?" she yawned, tugging on her cousin's sleeve. "What time izzit... where's we goin'?"

The Scientist led the group through the large double doors that opened up into the main school building. While Akuroma managed to walk with a certain grace and confidence, Touya slowly began to pick up on the body language of everyone else. Touko was shaking and her head was bowed, her gaze trained on the floor in front of her. N was fidgeting, unable to decide what he wanted to look at or where he wanted to stand. Even Kris was slowly growing more distressed, her questions becoming more frequent and more frantic with every step they took.

By the time they reached the second pair of large double doors, Touya felt like he was the one supporting Touko. As they approached the doors to the conference room, Touko's quivering had worsened severely.

Red stood outside of the doors, his back pressed against the wall and his arms wrapped around himself. His black hair was falling in his face and his lips were parted, his shoulders rising and falling rapidly with every breath he took.

Akuroma turned to look at him as he placed a gloved hand on the handle of one of the double doors. "Red," he said smoothly. The Trainer jerked back slightly, a tiny groan escaping his parted lips. Then he stood up, brushed the hair out of his eyes, and dropped his hands back to his sides.

"Red?" Kris asked, maneuvering herself so she could be as close to the young man as possible without losing her grip on her cousin's sleeve. She grinned, completely oblivious to the tension and the despair that hung thick in the air. "Red, hey, hey, whatcha hangin' out here for? Aku says we's all gotta meet in 'da conference room," she exclaimed, shifting her weight from foot to foot as she spoke. "C'mon, ya can walk in wit' us! Birds uvva featha' flock togedda, right?"

The Trainer looked incredibly uncomfortable, and it took Akuroma's gentle tugging on the sleeve in Kris' grip for the Know-It-All to relent. "Let's give him some room, shall we?" he suggested. "Something tragic has happened, and he'll need some time for himself."

"Tragic?" Touya could practically see the gears turning in Kris' head as she screwed up her face in thought. As she pondered this, Akuroma opened the door, and Red took this opportunity to slip into the conference room.

N lurched forward, grabbing Touko by the hand and leading both her and Touya to the doors. "To not go forwards is to go backwards, right?" he murmured. Akuroma and Kris stepped inside, and N, Touko, and Touya followed.

As soon as Touya set foot into the room, Monorua's voice met his ears.

"About time!" it shouted, leaping high into the air with its hackles raised. "You two kept us aaaaaall waiting! Rude, rude, _rude!_"

"Oy, shaddup!" Kris snapped, "it ain't MY fault!"

"Knock it off!" Touko said simultaneously, throwing her arm out in front of Touya protectively. "Do you have any clue what happened?!"

Monorua laughed daintily into one of its paws. "What kind of question is _that?_" it snickered, "of _course _I know what happened!"

_'Of course,' _Touya thought, _'it made the announcement, after all...'_

"A resident is dead! Dead! Dead as a doornail!" Monorua cheered, its tail wagging in its exuberance. In response, Lyra- who was only partially visible, as she was wrapped in Green's protective embrace- let out another loud sob, before burying her face in his chest.

Monorua continued as if nothing had happened. "And boy, was that _fast! _Not even twenty four hours and one of you bastards broke!" Monorua laughed again, uproariously this time. "Ooh, won't she be proud~ I bet I did it even faster than _she _can!"

"_She?_" repeated Janine, her brow furrowing as she brought a thoughtful hand to her chin. "Who is 'she'?"

"You don't deserve to know!" Monorua chided, turning his nose up at the Ninja.

"Did _what_ faster than 'she' can?!" demanded Homika, the grit in her voice even stronger than usual. Yancy tugged helplessly on Homika's hand as the Rock Star pulled forwards, closing in on the zorua. "You're talkin' about killin' him, aren't you? You're talkin' about up and killin' him!"

"W-what kind of TV show is this...?" Yancy squeaked, her entire face hidden beneath the brim of her hat.

Homika spun on the shy girl, venom in her tone. "This ain't a fuckin' TV show!" she spat, causing Yancy to yelp and jump back.

"B-but Monorua said it was!" Bill added, wringing his hands nervously in front of him.

"I said no such thing!" Monorua declared, sitting back on its haunches and raising its paws in the air. "You guys just decided to follow little miss pigtails over there! If you've got a problem, take it up with her!"

"I'm so-o-o-o-o-_rryyyyyy!_" Lyra sobbed into Green's shirt.

"And for that matter," Monorua continued seamlessly, "I didn't lay a _paw _on that furball! I don't want to catch his fleas," it said, and for effect it scratched itself behind the ear with one of its hind legs.

"You're _lying!_" Homika yelled.

Monorua sighed dramatically, trotting in her direction. "Did all that loud music kill your ears?" it asked. "I told you yesterday! I'm not a liar. I'm Monorua! And Monorua won't lay a paw on any of you bastards, unless you go breaking the rules!" It looked down, immediately appearing saddened- or as saddened as it could, considering its perpetual half-grin. "And breaking the rules would just break my heart," it pouted.

"If you didn't kill him," Caitlin asked, her voice low and controlled, "then who did?"

The zorua's pout instantly twisted into a wide grin. "Oh, I'm sure that you all know that!" it chirped, its tail thumping wildly against the floor. "Hugh's killer is one of _you_, bastards!"

Those words in that cheery, unnerving tone felt like a sucker punch to Touya's gut. Twenty four hours ago, he wouldn't have believed it. He would have ardently denied this possibility until his very last breath.

But he had been worn thin in the past twenty four hours. As he stood there, eyes not entirely focused and breathing shallow, all he could do was believe it.

_'One of... us?'_

Monorua continued after relishing the tense silence that fell over the residents. "It's like I've been saying from the beginning! In order to leave, somebody here killed Hugh! Aren't those the rules we agreed to? It's very simple!"

"We never agreed to anything!" Green snapped.

"Oh?" Monorua's red eye glinted dangerously. "You're wrong. By killing a fellow resident, one of you agreed to play by my rules."

A startled sound escaped the back of Touya's throat and he instinctively looked around at everyone else's faces. They did the same, their own faces a mix of doubt and fear and confusion.

Archer, who looked at everyone through narrowed eyes, spoke up. "Hang on," he said. "Monorua."

"Yes?" it asked, tail wagging.

"If one of us really DID kill Hugh, then why have they not left by now?"

Monorua cutely cocked its head to the side.

"Don't play dumb," Archer said. "'If you kill someone, you can leave,' yes?"

The zorua was quiet for a moment, its tail stilling to rest on the ground. "...upupu," it laughed. Then its tail started wagging again as it sat back on its haunches, its paws pressing against its gut. "Upupupupu!" And then it succumbed to a fit of uproarious laughter, throwing its head back as the eerie sound echoed around the room.

The corners of Archer's lips twitched into a smile as he crossed his arms behind his back. "I knew it," he said.

Very few others seemed as confident as Archer. "Why are you laughing?!" Green demanded.

Monorua pretended to wipe a tear from its eye before it answered. "Green-kuuuun, you're so naive!" it sang. "You think that's all you have to do? Kill someone and get out of here scott-free? What kind of lawless world would we live in if that was the case?"

Bill spoke up. "But y'all said-"

"_I'all_ said nothing!" Monorua declared. "It's in the rules!"

"I see," said Caitlin, glancing over her MonoDex. "You are referring to the clause in rule five, correct?"

"Correct-o-mundo!" Monorua cheered. "It's no good just killing someone. You've gotta hide what you've done from everyone else! It's like a game of hide-and-go-seek! "

"Hide-and-go-seek?" N repeated incredulously.

"What? No!" scolded Monorua. "It's not like that at all! What are you, _stupid_? Now why don't you sit down and only speak when spoken to-" at that point Monorua's voice dropped into a much lower register, acquiring a certain grit and malice, "-you _good for nothing boy!_"

N, who had been caught off-guard by the zorua's sudden switch, gasped and bowed his head, falling to his knees as if on instinct. He nodded submissively and kept his eyes trained on the floor.

"N?!" Touko gawked, before turning on Monorua. "What did you _do _to him?!"

Monorua giggled, its tone back to normal, and that was the only response that Touko got. "This is a very serious matter- _much _more serious than hide-and-go-seek! We're going to settle this like grown-ups settle _all _disputes-"

"A pokemon battle!" Kris finished, eyes alight.

"No, not that either!" Monorua blared. "We'll settle this in court! We're gonna see if you bastards can figure out whodunnit with a class trial!"

"_Class _trial?" Akuroma repeated. "We don't actually attend school here, remember." Then he added, "I _do _have a doctorate..."

"Will you stop interrupting?!" Monorua howled, hackles raised. Akuroma raised his hands in a show of no harm and he silenced himself. The zorua cleared its throat before it continued. "This _class _trial," it began, looking meaningfully in Akuroma's direction, "will commence a few hours after a murder takes place! During the trial, you'll get a chance to debate 'whodunnit' amongst yourselves. Then at the end, you'll vote! And if you reach the correct conclusion, the culprit who disrupted public order will be '_punished_,' and the rest of you can go on living our school's communal lifestyle!" It held up its white paw to exemplify this.

"On the other hand," it continued, slowly shifting to hold up its black paw instead, "if the wrong person is voted as the culprit... the _real_ culprit who committed the crime stays alive, but all the innocents will be _punished_! And those are the rules of a class trial!"

Almost everyone looked towards the zorua submissively. N's gaze was still trained on the floor, and a few individuals seemed to retain some dignity in their compliance. Only two of the people in the room differed- Kris looked indignant, like a pokemon raring to brawl.

But it was Proton's expression that made Touya feel nauseous all over again. He was amused. Shamelessly so.

"Lemme guess," began the Sadist, a vicious sort of pleasure dripping from every word he spoke. "This 'punishment' you keep bringing up- it's death, isn't it?"

"Bingo!" Monorua cheered again. "Execution, to be precise! Bludgeoned by a thousand fungoes! Churned into butter and served on pancakes! Smashed into a big ol' MonoBall!" Then the creature covered its mouth with both of its hand, as if it had just accidentally revealed a secret. "Oops! Do those count as spoilers?"

"If we correctly identify the culprit, then they're the only one killed," Janine started, her brow furrowed. Touya could pick up the faint hints of a waver in her usually steady tone.

"But if we make the wrong choice," Caitlin continued seamlessly, "we will all be executed."

Monorua applauded. "Clap, clap!" it announced cutely. "You sure are quick on the uptake! I can see that you _truly _are the brightest the world has to offer."

Caitlin didn't even acknowledge that Monorua's tone was laden with sarcasm. "You've forgotten, Monorua," she said, speaking curtly, "I'm **an esper**. _No _amount of skill or deceitfulness can hide a guilty conscience."

"Hm," Monorua hemmed. "_Hm_," Monorua hawed. "I didn't consider that," it mumbled to itself, seeming to weigh its options.

Then it stomped both of its front paws and howled to the heavens. "There is only one thing I can do! _Come forth, Gugnir the Spear!_"

It called those words with such emphasis that, although Touya didn't quite understand what it meant, he still panicked on instinct. His gaze snapped to Caitlin, who was staring wide-eyed at Monorua.

She would have remained there had Red not emerged from the crowd, lunging forward and grabbing her by the arm, yanking her urgently aside. This startled Caitlin, and similarly to what had happened that morning, a wave of panicked energy washed over the room in a continuous wave. Red was thrown back a solid metre, skidding on his heels and raising his arms as if that would somehow protect him.

All of this happened in the span of a single moment- and as soon as that moment ended, Monorua burst into laughter.

"You bastards fell for it!" it roared in amusement. "What did I _just _tell you? I'm not going to hurt anybody unless they're breaking the rules!" Its laughter subsided and it returned its full attention to Caitlin. "But if you read their minds, that's cheating! And cheating's against the rules."

Caitlin- who seemed to recover surprisingly well, all things considered- stared evenly at Monorua. "...Very well," she said after a moment.

The zorua seemed a little disappointed. Touya didn't know how he picked up on it, considering its perpetual expression and overall lack of humanity. But it shifted its weight back to its haunches. "Aw, come on," it taunted, "doesn't one of you bastards want to try and challenge me? Come on- I'll even give you your lines!"

Then Monorua's voice changed again- now it was distinctly more feminine, sounding so impassioned that it could almost pass as human. "Just shut the fuck up!" the voice recited. "I don't care what you say, I'll never go on with something like this!"

People stared at the creature, confused and afraid. But no one dared to move.

"Siiiigh," Monorua sighed, its voice back to normal again. "Oh well, what can you do?" It hopped to its feet, tail wagging once more. "Anyway, good luck with your investigations! It's not like you have a choice, of course." And then, with a final "upupu," the zorua leapt into the air and crashed back down in the form of a pedestal fan.

For a short while, no one could speak.

Monorua had a tendency to leave everyone at a loss for words, but it wasn't just that this time. Someone among them was a killer. That was reality, and Touya was slowly coming to realize it.

The dull surprise gave way quickly to uneasiness. Lyra was sniffling, her expression betraying that she was a hair's breadth away from spilling back into hysterics. N was still staring blankly at the floor, and as Touko crouched down to try and comfort him, she almost fell with how badly she was shaking.

Akuroma was the first who dared to speak. "Aha," he exhaled. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked up at everyone. "There are a few points of interest on the MonoDex."

Instinctively following directions- because what else could he do, at this point?- Touya reached into his pocket and withdrew his MonoDex. He turned it on and stared numbly at the screen for a moment before maneuvering his way to the menu. A small red symbol that said 'NEW' appeared next to the 'Rules' button. Touya clicked it curiously. Beyond the rules that he was already familiar with, additions had been made.

**7. A Class Trial will be held a short length of time following a murder committed among the residents. Participation is mandatory.**

**8. If the culprit is correctly identified during the Class Trial, he alone will be executed.**

**9. If the culprit is not correctly identified, he alone will be allowed to leave, and the remaining residents are executed.**

**10. Cheating of any sort is prohibited.**

Touya looked up once he read the final rule- he supposed that it was convenient, but the additional rules provided nothing more than what had just been explained during the conference. However, mostly everyone else still had their heads bowed, hunched over their MonoDexes with various expressions of thought on their faces. Touya rushed to pretend that he hadn't looked up at all.

He noticed that something else had the 'NEW' symbol next to it- an option that simply said 'scan'. When Touya pressed it, a red light shone out from the top of the device. The screen changed to be entirely black, with the exception of the bold white text that said '**SCAN RESIDENT**'. Touya wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to mean, and he was just about to turn to Touko and try to scan her when Kris' distinct tone rang out.

"Ya gotta be jokin'!" she exclaimed, her eyes, wide with shock, turning to look up at her cousin. "You's sayin'-"

It was Archer who responded. "It seems to be prompting us to scan Hugh's body." He drew a hand to his chin in thought. "What will that accomplish, I wonder?"

"Nobody _asked _ya!" Kris spat, rearing back and glaring daggers at the Cold Blood. "I was _askin' _Aku!"

"If that's the case, though," Bill spoke up timidly, "then I reckon our first course of action should... probably be to go and, um," he swallowed hard, "scan him, then."

A few murmurs rang out in agreement, but it was Homika who made the first move, each step punctuated by the sound of her combat boots hitting the floor. "Come on," she growled gruffly. "Move your asses."

Like a single entity, everyone in the room followed Homika's lead, mostly in silence and mostly without even looking at anyone else. The walk to Hugh's room seemed shorter than the walk to the conference room, but Touya really wasn't in any state to try and comprehend this thought. Why was he doing this? Why was everyone acting as one, when everyone knew that someone among them was a murderer?

Homika reached Hugh's room first, balling her hand into a fist and pounding it against the door loud enough to make the more skittish members of the group jump. After the second knock she kept her fist pressed against the door, her entire arm shaking.

"Homika," Janine said gently, standing a short distance behind the Rock Star, "he's not going to answer."

"I _know _that!" Homika shouted, and she swiftly reached for the handle, swinging the door open with such force that it slammed against the wall of the room. She stood in the doorway as a fresh wave of death's putrid stench washed over them.

Lyra cried out instantly, both of her arms trembling as she hid her face in her hands. "I can't," she sobbed as her knees buckled and she fell gracelessly to the floor, "I-I can't, I can't go back in th-th-there...!"

Most of the group rushed to comfort her, hugging her and offering words of support and assurance. The Social Butterfree was swarmed, and all that Touya could manage with the crowd was laying a hand on her shoulder in comfort. Only a few people remained motionless, staring into Hugh's room but not daring to take the first steps.

"She makes a valid point," Archer acknowledged. "I sincerely doubt that most of these people would be able to stomach this."

Touya wondered, briefly, if _he _would be able to handle it. His instinct was to say no, of course not. What kind of sick, twisted person would be able to stay in the same room as a corpse?

But that feeling of unease and disgust had been buried beneath something stronger. It was just like Monorua said: he didn't have a choice. Even if he didn't want to, he had no choice. To go in there and investigate... if that was the only way to stay alive... he had no choice.

The truth was terrifying. But he had to know. He had no choice.

"I propose a few of us scan the corpse for everyone," said Akuroma.

"Awright, you heard 'da man!" Kris called, effectively drowning out the comforting words that people were offering Lyra. "If you's a pansy, hurry up an' hand off yer MonoDex ta someone who ain't such a wimp!"

Bill, Yancy, Lyra, Red, and Caitlin hastily gave their MonoDexes to someone nearby. Touya wondered if he should entrust Touko with his, but his burning need for the truth wouldn't let him. Instead he stood by the doorway, waiting for someone to take the first step.

Proton took it, offering up a derogatory scoff as he brushed past Archer and into the room. Slowly the group followed, filing in with nary a sound made.

Hugh looked just as Touya had last seen him, although he had a hard time convincing himself that the Vigilante was just sleeping, now. The blankets had been jostled, but were still strewn across his lower half. Even though the initial shock had worn off, Touya still found himself staring at the body, hardly remembering to blink.

He might've stayed there for a long time had Proton's dark chuckle not sounded from right beside him. Touya jumped, and thought for a moment that the Sadist had been laughing at him. But no, the man's gaze was trained intently on his MonoDex, his lips twisted into an amused smirk.

Hurriedly, Touya reached for his MonoDex and repeated his actions from earlier, before mimicking everyone else in the room and pointing it towards Hugh's corpse.

The graphic on the screen changed after a moment, turning into a progress bar that filled up quickly. It hindered at 99%, but after a few moments it filled to 100%, at which point the screen changed again.

The first thing that Touya noticed was the picture of Hugh, grinning and looking happy. It struck Touya all over again that Hugh was dead, and had there been nothing else on the screen he may have lapsed into another period of stunned unresponsiveness.

But his gaze trailed past the picture, focusing instead on the text that appeared shortly after. It was presented in a bold font, the same that had instructed him to 'scan resident' earlier.

**HUGH**

**SUPER HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL VIGILANTE**

**TIME OF DEATH: 1:30 AM**

**LOCATION: HUGH'S PRIVATE ROOM IN THE DORMITORY AREA**

**CAUSE OF DEATH: INTERNAL BLEEDING**

"How morbid," Archer observed, sounding relatively unperturbed.

"Internal bleeding?" Touya read aloud, glancing up from his MonoDex. "How is that possible...?"

"Simple," Akuroma answered, turning off his own MonoDex and beginning to scan Caitlin's. "A blood vessel can be torn or crushed by either blunt or penetrating trauma. Depending on the severity, he could have died in a matter of minutes."

"Well, which was it?" N asked, glancing between Akuroma and his MonoDex.

Akuroma waited until Caitlin's MonoDex had completed its scan before he answered. "I suppose that _is _the great mystery, isn't it?" He adjusted his glasses. "It truly is a blessing to you all that I am among your ranks."

"Ah, that's right!" Touko smacked her fist into her palm. "Akuroma, you're good at sciencey stuff! Could you look at the body and try and find out some more?"

The Scientist raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Touko. "Oh? Did I not make it clear enough that those were my intentions?" he asked. "My apologies." Then he cleared his throat. "I intend to spend this investigative period examining the body and determining a more precise cause of death." He clasped his gloved hands together in front of him. "Are there any objections?"

"Yes," Archer said instantly, matching the Scientist's stance. "Are we to trust you in a position of such power? With unrestricted and unobserved access to the body and the crime scene, you will be in the best position to destroy evidence."

Kris threw herself in between the two older men, arms spread wide as if to protect her much-taller cousin. "If you's implyin' 'dat Aku's 'da murderer, you's gonna have _me _ta deal wit'!" she barked.

N, too, frothed with protest. "You are a criminal," he told Archer, his tone laced with disgust, "what makes you think you have the right to challenge him? I order you to stand down."

"No, he's entirely correct," Akuroma said. "It would be embarrassingly foolish of you to trust me so easily. If it bothers you so much, why not leave someone else to watch me? If there are two of us, then the problem is gone."

"But what if you finish your examination before the investigation is over?" Janine asked.

"If that is to happen, then I will remain at the crime scene as a second guard. That way, there is no risk of someone being left alone with the body."

The room fell into a terse silence as everyone considered possible faults in this plan. Kris glared one last dagger at Archer before returning to her cousin's side, slinking under his arm like some sort of affectionate pet. "Aku an' I's gonna stand guard!" she announced.

Protest swelled in Touya's chest. What good would it do if the two of them were watching the crime scene? He was sure that they would lie and deceive for each other. If Akuroma _had _killed him, then Kris would most definitely agree to hide evidence- and the reverse might even be true, as well.

Those accusatory thoughts caught him off-guard, somewhat- was that the paranoia setting in, or was he really that cynical?

Akuroma moved away from his cousin, a gentle sigh escaping his lips. "Kris," he began, "your extraordinary talent would be wasted if you were to guard with me. Your intellect is unmatched by anyone else here- do you really think they have a chance if you're not there to help them?"

Kris balled her hands into spirited fists. "Not a vanillite's chance in hell!" she exclaimed.

"Exactly." Akuroma smiled at her. "You bring us hope in times of great despair, Kris. I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Kris beamed, saluting her cousin as confidence practically oozed out of her.

"I'll do it." Homika moved forward, stopping at the foot of Hugh's bed and crossing her arms. "If anyone here even _thinks _about trying to destroy the evidence, I will find you and wring your neck before that zorua can get to you." Her tone was serious and merciless, befitting of a demon from beyond the gates of Tartarus.

"Does that satisfy everyone?" Akuroma asked the rest of them, and nobody seemed to have any objections- at the very least, no one voiced them. "Excellent. Now that we've finished that discussion, you should begin the investigation."

"Should we keep working in groups?" Touko asked, glancing at N.

"No," answered Archer. "We must gather evidence, and use it to discern the correct answer. Working in groups will do nothing but hinder progress and promote narrow-mindedness. I propose that from now on, everyone acts alone."

N glared at the Rocket. "When the brightest minds come together, progress is made. That is the founding thought of this whole conference, is it not?"

"I am more than willing to debate this with you at a later point," Archer said sharply. "But we have a time limit, and I am not going to spend any more of it arguing with you." Smoothly slipping his MonoDex into his pocket, he turned on his heel and made his way out the door. N glowered, his whole visage darkening as he stared after the Rocket.

Janine spoke up, her voice soft but assured. "Let's compromise," she said. "Everyone, operate as you see fit. If you'd like to work alone, go right ahead. If you prefer to work in groups, that's fine too. Try to keep them small- no more than three people at the most. We need to cover as much ground as we can."

"Keh!" Proton spat on the ground before sneering Janine's way. "Who died and made _you _in charge? I'm doing whatever the fuck I want."

Nobody dared to tell him the fallacy in his denial, and he too left the room.

Slowly the room emptied, save for Akuroma and Homika. The borrowed MonoDexes were returned to those who had spent this time sitting in the hallway in near-silence. The majority of people opted to work alone. Lyra and Yancy went with Green after he assured them that he would keep them safe. Red had tried to slink away undetected, but Kris had chased after him just a few seconds later, and Touya could still hear her incessant chatter even though both of them had disappeared around the corner.

"Excuse me," said Janine, and Touya jumped. He hadn't realized that he was standing in the doorway, completely blocking anyone from entering or exiting.

"Oh! Sorry," he said, and sheepishly stepped to the side.

She smiled at him- the first honest smile that he'd seen since that morning. "Thank you," she said politely. "How are you holding up?"

Touya wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to answer that question. Part of him was falling to shambles- a big part of him, actually. But that burning need for truth and vengeance was also a big part, almost bigger than the part that was collapsing.

"...I'm not quite sure," he finally answered.

Janine let out a soft sound of understanding. "Makes sense," she said. "It's a lot to deal with."

"Yeah. No kidding."

"But I have faith that we'll pull through," she said. "After all- it's like Monorua said. We have no choice, right? If we _don't _pull through, well..."

In that instant, Touya's heart plummeted. He had been so preoccupied with the fact that one of the residents was a murderer. He had invested all of his energies in coming to terms with that fact. But Janine had effectively reminded him of the next big hurdle- the true test of his mettle.

If they couldn't find out who did it... all of them would die.

He hadn't explicitly realized it until now.

"...Hey," Janine said tentatively, "hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Touya's reaction was instantaneous and blatantly false.

"We're going to be just fine," she asserted, speaking slightly faster than usual. She must have noticed his lie, or the fact that his face had paled considerably, or the fact that his entire body had tensed. "I mean, it's like N said! We're the brightest minds, come together. What's one murderer against all of us?"

"They're a bright mind, too," Touya blurted, "they're just as good as you guys are."

Janine hesitated before smiling awkwardly. "We outnumber them," she answered. "And besides... we've got something they don't have."

"And that is?"

"We've got good luck," she said. And then she excused herself, slipping into the room and closing the door behind her.

Janine tugged her scarf up over her nose as she turned around and gently clicked the door shut behind her. The smell was terrible- especially once she came to realize it as that of death.

Instantly she was aware of someone approaching her. She glanced over her shoulder before she spun the rest of her body around. Homika had stopped just a short distance in front of her, a somber expression on her face. "Arms out," she said sharply. Janine stuck her arms out obediently, holding her scarf in place with her chin so that it wouldn't slip with the sudden movement.

"A pat-down?" Janine asked as Homika ran her hands down Janine's sides. The Rock Star paid careful attention to Janine's baggy pants, grasping bunches of fabric near her thighs and pulling them taut.

Homika nodded with an affirmative grunt. "_Nobody's _tamperin' with the crime scene as long as _I've _got something to say about it," she explained. Her tone was harsh and gritty, as if it were lodged in the back of her throat. She stood back up, reaching to grab for Janine's scarf as the Ninja tensed. With a single shake, Homika seemed appeased. "It doesn't look like you're carrying anything dangerous," she said. Then she stepped back and to the side. "Go on, then. Knock yourself out."

Janine adjusted her scarf and rolled her shoulders before she continued in. The crime scene looked different now that the room was mostly empty. It was empty to an almost eerie degree-Homika stood not far from the wall, and Akuroma stood hunched over Hugh's body with a look of intrigue on his face. The rest of the room was empty and pristine, almost completely untouched.

"I don't know what you want to even look at in here," Homika scoffed, crossing her arms. "There's nothing to see. Akuroma's runnin' an autopsy, but otherwise, I can't find anything to even _look _at."

Janine shifted her weight from foot to foot as she thought. "Is it normal?" she asked. "How clean it is, I mean."

"The hell would I know?" Homika asked. "I hardly know the kid!" She faltered. "Knew," she corrected in a softer voice. "_Knew_ the kid."

"Oh!" Janine exclaimed, before she clenched her hands by her sides and brought her tone immediately back to a more level pitch. She brought her hands in front of her, covering her right hand with her left and bowing. "My apologies," she continued, voice back in check. "I had assumed you two were much closer."

Homika cocked a brow, looking as if she wanted to comment on the Ninja's intial slip-up, but seemed to decide against it. "We took the same boat from Virbank to Castelia, and we met up and talked for a bit. I mean, it's a pretty small neck of the woods, where I'm from. What are the odds that someone else from there was goin' to this conference, too?"

Janine nodded as Homika spoke. She didn't know what she could do in order to help the Rock Star. But if talking was going to help her in any way, then Janine was prepared to listen. Her dad had told her on many occasions: that was what a ninja was supposed to do.

But it was Akuroma who spoke up next- not necessarily addressing either of the girls, but speaking loudly enough to catch both of their attentions. "Oh, dear," he said. Despite his words, he didn't sound overly concerned.

"What?" Homika asked, hurrying over to the Scientist's side. Janine followed, her light footsteps entirely swallowed by the sound of Homika's combat boots hitting the ground.

Immediately after approaching Homika recoiled, burying her face in the crook of her elbow and grimacing. "Jeez!" she yelped as the rest of her body turned away. Janine kept her gaze trained on the sight longer.

Akuroma had thrown the covers completely off of the Vigilante, revealing that he was still entirely dressed in yesterday's clothes, save for his jacket- even his shoes were still on. But that was not what had caused such a violent reaction. Akuroma had hiked up the back of Hugh's shirt to reveal that the entirety of his back was covered with a large, angry bruise. His skin may have started to purple, but it was nothing compared to the bruise that disappeared beneath the fabric of his shirt- in fact, the bruise was very nearly black.

Janine buried her nose further in her scarf as she watched the Scientist pull the shirt higher and higher. With each new bit of skin that was revealed, the worse the bruise became.

"Are you sure you don't want to look away?" asked Akuroma, the smirk clear in his tone. Although it would be nigh-on impossible for an outsider to notice, Janine fretted. Was she showing discomfort, or a sign of weakness? Were her arms shaking? Was her breathing ragged? The Ninja hurriedly made sure that she was entirely unreadable.

Akuroma stilled his hand, keeping Hugh's shirt poised slightly above his shoulder blades. "It's understandable, of course," he continued. "It takes a special breed to be able to stomach this sort of thing."

Hidden expertly beneath her scarf, the corner of Janine's mouth twitched in disapproval. "I'm fine," she said curtly, her eyes not moving from the corpse. "You may continue at will, Akuroma."

Instead of proceeding, Akuroma instead heaved a heavy sigh, placing a free hand on the mattress and leaning over towards Janine. "As flattering as it is to be observed by such eager eyes," he said, "I must insist that you spend your time elsewhere. If I wanted an audience, I would have asked Kris to stay with me."

"How about you pull your head out of your own ass and actually do something?" Homika growled, her body stiff and turned pointedly away from the scene. "If you're as good at this as you keep sayin', then how come you haven't figured it out by now?!"

"I can assure you that I am almost certainly positive that the interal bleeding was caused by extreme blunt trauma," Akuroma snapped, the words rolling smoothly off of his tongue.

"_Almost_?" Homika snarked. "Jeez, I could've told ya that just by lookin' at that bruise!"

"I'd like to see _you_ working any faster with a complete and total lack of equipment," Akuroma huffed. Then he cleared his throat and stood up straight. "That aside, it's _painfully _obvious that you can't even _look _at him, let alone _examine _him. Woe be unto us when we must rely on the likes of _you _for an autopsy report."

Homika thrashed in place, unable to decide whether to turn around or not. "You really wanna do this right now?" she growled, glaring at him out of the corner of her eye.

As the two of them bickered, Janine took a step back. The spotilight was off of her- she could move however she pleased. Her gaze instantly fell to the ground, seeking the one thing that she remembered being out of place.

Hugh's pillow was lying in the corner between the wall and the side of the bed, wrinkled and folded in on itself as pillow are wont to look. Janine crouched down and leaned in close, expertly balanced without even wavering. She was good at _that_ part. When she was alone, doing what a ninja was supposed to do was easy. It was only when it came to interacting with others that she had any sort of difficulty at all. She was stealthy and she was observant- but when other people were involved, sometimes she let her emotions get the best of her.

With everything going on above her head, though, Janine was in her element. She took in what she could about the pillow. Based on where it landed, it appeared as if it had done nothing more than simply fallen off the bed.

Her brow furrowed and she shifted, trying to view the pillow from a different angle. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, exactly- blood splatter? That wouldn't make any sense, considering that any sign of blood was mysteriously absent from the scene. Finger prints? She didn't have the faintest idea of how to even start gathering them. Her dad had taught her how to tell if someone was dead- never how to figure out what, or who, killed him.

Homika- who'd left Akuroma for his own devices- crouched down beside her, staring at the pillow for a moment before she reached out to grab it. But just as Homika's hand moved, Janine's own hand shot out, neatly grabbing the Rock Star's wrist and restraining it. Homika shouted in surprise, recoiling instinctively. "Jeez, what the hell?!"

"The crime scene should remain undisturbed," Janine said.

"That's what I told four-eyes," Homika said with a violent jerk of her head in Akuroma's direction. "But I swear, he doesn't listen to anyone without pigtails and a dumb accent."

Akuroma didn't look up as he replied. "The blankets were impeding my investigation," he said sharply. "I don't try to tell you how to do your part- do not tell me how to do mine."

"Akuroma," began Janine testily, "how do you justify this as not tampering with the crime scene?"

The man heaved another heavy sigh and stood up straight. "If you mean to tell me that there is a valuable clue hidden amongst _bedsheets_, then I offer up the humblest of apologies," he said, not sounding very apologetic at all. "But I believe that you will find there is _no_ evidence to suggest that this is even where the murder took place."

"It says so in the MonoDex," Homika countered.

Akuroma didn't miss a beat. "No, it says that he _died_ in this room. It says nothing about where he was attacked."

"So what, you're saying that someone dragged him all the way here before he died?" Homika snapped.

"Quite possibly," said Akuroma, shifting his attention to Hugh's hands. He held the slightly-swollen hand up to the light, scrutinizing it. "Although, on first glance, there is a perplexing lack of defense wounds. No lacerations, no abrasions... not even any contusions." His gaze shifted to Homika. "That's 'bruising', to the layman."

Janine took this opportunity to move again, taking up Akuroma's invitation to inspect the bedsheets. They were thick and black, cascading off of the mattress and pooling on the floor. She crouched down and tested the fabric between two fingers. She wasn't an expert on fabric by any means, but she could tell that they were certainly high-quality.

"But he _is _in his dailywear," Akuroma continued as Janine pulled the sheets taut, spreading them out on the floor. "Which would imply that he was not in here when he was killed."

Janine began to fold the sheets back on themselves, carefully examining the entirety of the fabric. It was difficult, and the dark colouring hid any potential stains. Even the full glow of the lights from above did nothing to make her task any easier.

Instead, the Ninja decided to run her fingertips along the sheets. She didn't know what she was looking for, but what else could she do? She kept half-focused on the conversation that was going on between the two others while she spread her hands wide, covering as much of the sheets as she could.

The tip of Janine's thumb brushed against something crusty.

"Huh?" she said aloud, a tiny sound that was mostly swallowed up by her scarf. She instinctively drew her hand back, squinting down at where her thumb had just been. She saw nothing. Her brow furrowed as she placed her hands on either side, leaning in even closer to inspect whatever she had just felt.

"I told you, you're not going to find anything," Akuroma drawled as he inspected underneath Hugh's fingernails.

"No, I did," Janine said before she could stop herself.

Akuroma looked at her immediately, Hugh's hand slipping out of his grip and falling back onto the mattress. "Oh?" he asked, coming to stand behind her with just a few long strides. He crossed his arms behind his back and leaned over the Ninja, bending at the hip. Homika glanced over and joined them as well, the pillow clutched to her middle.

Janine grasped bunches of fabric on either side of the mysterious invisible spot, holding it up for both of them to examine. "It's strange," she said, choosing her words deliberately. "You can't _see_ it, but... you can _feel _it."

"Interesting," Akuroma exhaled, before taking the sheets from Janine's grip. He stood back up, tugging the sheets with him and holding them high above his head.

"There," said Janine, pointing exactly where she had felt the crustiness. The lights shining behind the sheets allowed for what she had felt to become visible. It was a smear- no bigger than a coin- and it had very little pigmentation to it. Janine couldn't even tell what colour it _was_. Red? Purple?

Akuroma let out a noise of thoughtfulness. "I see," he said.

"What _is _it?" Homika asked, squinting at it.

"It's blood, probably," answered the Ninja.

"Indeed," affirmed Akuroma, bringing the sheets down so that he could better see them. He pressed the thumb of one of his gloved hands against the smudge, completely covering it. A ponderous expression crossed his face. "A fingerprint," he murmured, tracing the entirety of the smear with care.

"I'm sorry, what's that you said? 'No evidence on the bedsheets?'" Homika asked pompously.

Akuroma elected to ignore that comment as he draped the sheets back over the bed. The mysterious smudge was near the top of the sheet. When the sheets came to rest, the smear fell just to the side of Hugh's middle.

Janine wondered if Akuroma was going to admit that he was incorrect. She glanced up at him, only to find that his golden gaze had moved to look at Homika. "I'm afraid you have no right to call anyone out, considering _your_ actions are no better." The Ninja turned to look at Homika, and noticed the pillow- black like the sheets- held tight for the first time.

Homika huffed and turned away from the Scientist. "Sorry, but you're _way _off, four-eyes!"

"_Four eyes_?" Akuroma asked, taken aback.

"Here," Homika beckoned, moving towards where the pillow had been. Janine followed, slightly embittered, but withholding judgment. Akuroma sighed and folded the sheet over so that the smudge would be easily locatable, before following as well.

Janine noticed what Homika was directing them towards just a moment before she pointed it out herself. It was a perfectly circular indent in the carpet. The carpet wasn't deep by any means, but the strange imprint was still enough to notice.

"Hm." Akuroma pressed his finger in the middle of the indent, testing the give of the carpet beneath his finger. "Iiiiinteresting," he drawled.

"Well would you look at that," teased Homika, "I found something useful! That's one-to-zip, four-eyes!"

With that comment, Homika and Akuroma fell back into a barrage of bickering. Janine slipped into the background, standing up and adjusting her scarf. Ninja were not often social, and usually kept silently to the shadows. But as Janine's gaze swept along the rug and more strange circular indents caught her eye, she accepted that in this case, she would have to step into the light once more.

She waited for there to be a lull in their conversation before she spoke up, gently nudging them to look around and notice that those indents were all around them. It wouldn't do if they lost sight of what they were looking for, right? Maybe she could hone her skills as a ninja yet. It was like her dad had taught her: it was not a ninja's place to try and control the flow of chi. All she could do was wait- be patient and observant- until the energies flowed correctly.

"Hey, you're pretty good at singing."

Green certainly hadn't meant anything negative by the comment, and yet Yancy still recoiled as if she had been struck. She guiltily slapped a hand over her mouth and stepped back. A series of miserable squeaks escaped from the girl's mouth and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"Woah, hey, are you okay?" he asked, alarmed.

Yancy nodded her head fervently, squeezing her eyes shut as her hands moved to cover her face as a whole. "I-I'm not a good singer...!" she managed, backing up until she was pressed against the wall. "I j-just do it to calm myself down sometimes, I'm s-sorry!"

Green ran a hand through his spiky hair. The action was instinctive- a nervous tic he'd had for as long as he could remember. He hadn't said anything to upset her, had he? A low-burning flame from his childhood flared up within him. He had just paid her a compliment! The esteemed Green Oak had just paid her a compliment- who was she to deny it? She should be grateful!

But with the flame burning so low, it was easy to ignore. He had grown since the carefree days of his childhood and his journey. He understood that not everyone operated like he did. He'd learned that from Red, of all people.

With a bit of a struggle, Green swallowed his pride and put a hand on Yancy's shoulder. "Fine," he said, "I lied. You're the worst singer I've ever heard."

Yancy split her fingers to peer up at Green. "Really?" she asked, and he nodded. She giggled a little, sliding her hands off of her face and clasping them in front of her. "Thanks," she said, showing him a rare, shy smile.

Green didn't understand the girl one bit, but he was okay with that.

The soft creak of a door caught his attention. He and Yancy both turned to see Lyra step out of her room, closing the door gently behind her. "...Hi," she said quietly. "Thank you for waiting."

"D-don't worry about it," Yancy said.

Lyra approached Green and the young man instantly spread his arms to hug her close. She wrapped her arms around his middle before he wrapped his arms around her, as if he could protect her small form from everything that had happened.

The Social Butterfree sniffled before she finally pulled back, looking up at Green. "How do I look?" she asked. She had spent the last short while alone in her room, washing up after her hysterical breakdown earlier. All things considered, she had done a remarkably good job of cleaning herself up. The only things that betrayed she had been crying were the puffy redness in her eyes and the slight waver in her voice.

"You look great," he said, and he meant it. He understood Lyra- she operated like he did. She liked praise and she liked attention, and with a body and personality like hers, he sure did enjoy dishing it out.

Lyra smiled up at him, clasping her hands together in front of her. (Was that just a universal thing that all girls did?) "Thanks," she said. "I'm so embarrassed, thinking back on it..."

"Nah," Green said, grinning down at her. "Don't be embarrassed! It makes sense to react like that." His tone shifted to be slightly gentler. "It's a... lot to deal with."

Once more, the pigtailed girl sniffled. But instead of letting it get the best of her, she stomped her foot and balled her hands into spirited fists. "Let's start investigating," she declared with as much determination as she could muster. "We can't let whoever did this get away with it!"

If there was one thing that Green liked about the girl- her personality and her body and her charm aside- it was her determination.

"O-okay!" Yancy chirped, stepping away from the wall and gravitating towards Lyra's side. "U-um, where should we go?"

Green instinctively wanted to suggest Hugh's room, but he knew better. "I guess we could just wander around and see if anything looks suspicious," he suggested.

"That's a good idea!" Lyra praised, entwining her fingers with his own. "We're all pretty smart; we'll find something, I'm sure!"

The three of them set off, smiling and chatting and ultimately doing their best to lighten the mood. They didn't get far, though, before they found something suspicious indeed.

"What's this chair still doing out here?" asked Green. It was positioned expertly at _just _the right spot and angle to make it a complete bother.

"And why's it in front of Touya's door?" Lyra added, drawing a finger to her cheek as she thought. "It's been here since this morning, right? How'd he even manage to get out of his room?" Green shrugged in response.

"U-um, if it's his, maybe we should put it back?" suggested Yancy.

"Good idea!" Lyra exclaimed.

"I don't think we can, though," Green said, stopping both girls in their tracks. "I mean, unless he's in there, I sincerely doubt he's gonna leave his door unlocked."

Lyra made a vague sound of agreement. "Well... we can still check if he's home, right?" she asked, moving the chair to the side so that she could stand in front of his door. She raised her hand and rang the doorbell before crossing her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels.

Yancy had just suggested that he might not be in when a door opened. It wasn't Touya's door, though- it was from further down the hall.

"Are you looking for Touya?" asked Caitlin from her doorway. In her hands, she held a tray of half-eaten food that Green recognized from last night's feast.

"Yeah!" Lyra answered bombastically, practically bouncing down the hall to meet up with the Esper. Green and Yancy followed not too far behind. "Have you seen him lately?"

Caitlin shifted her plate so that she could hold it in one hand, reaching behind her to close her door. She was quiet for a moment before she answered. "I don't believe so. Not since the investigation started."

"Well, it doesn't look like he's in," observed Green.

"As expected," Caitlin said. "If even _you _three are involved, I cannot imagine that he would be sitting this one out." With that, she turned and began towards the cafeteria.

"Hey, wait!" Green called, catching up to her with just a few strides. "What's _that _supposed to mean?"

Although Caitlin didn't stop to answer, what she said next was still definitely directed at them. "You spent yesterday indulging in your television fantasies, which were easiest to believe," she said listlessly, her hair and gown flowing behind her as she moved towards her destination. "It is like waking from a dream in order to live a nightmare. Some people are more obstinate than others."

Lyra caught up, a hurt expression crossing her face. "I said I was sorry," she said as the group entered the cafeteria. "What more do you want from me?"

Again, there was a brief pause before Caitlin answered. "I don't want anything from you." She scanned the cafeteria until she found the trash bins on the far side, and then began to head towards them.

"Can we be friends, then?" Lyra asked.

"I have no desire for your friendship," Caitlin said, and this time there was no pause. She reached the garbage can and, without even hesitating, dropped the plate inside.

"Wh-why not?" Lyra asked.

"What the hell- why'd you throw the plate out?" Green demanded, his sentence punctuated by the distant shattering of ceramic.

"It was dirtied," said Caitlin. "What point would there be to keeping it?" But before anyone could offer up an answer, she continued to address Lyra's question. "As for my reasoning- you lot have nothing beneficial to offer me. Is that reason enough?"

Lyra pouted, dragging her gaze to empty space. "I'm beneficial," she protested.

"We have differing definitions of the term, then," Cailtin said concisely. She strode past the group, only calling to them over her shoulder after a second thought. "Good day."

"Wait," called Lyra one final time. "What's your _problem_?"

"Someone has been murdered." Lyra recoiled violently as Caitlin spoke those words, stopping mid-step. "Please forgive me if I seem condescending. My thoughts are preoccupied with much more important things than friendships- which you, evidently, are unable to _begin_ to understand." Then, more resolutely this time, she said, "good day," and began walking once more.

"Just forget her," Green suggested, and his tone came out as snide even though he didn't mean it to.

Lyra looked back to Green, a sort of sour expression crossing her face. She looked incredibly troubled- it was an expression that he'd only seen on her once before, and that was when she was recalling her history with Kris and why the latter seemed to despise her. It was an expression that Green was prone to make, as well- one of agitation and betrayal and sadness.

Yancy made to speak up, but Lyra pre-empted her. Her eyes darted from side to side, as if making sure that no one was within earshot. "...Bitch," Lyra said.

Green laughed and agreed, because in that moment he couldn't think of a better way to describe her. If there was one thing that Green liked about Lyra- her personality and her body and her charm and her determination aside- it was her way with words.

The investigation had hardly begun and Touya was already out of ideas. The astoundingly strong resolve that he had started the day with hardly lasted. He figured that the crime scene was covered- Akuroma was a scientist, and on top of that, at least two other _legitimate _Super High School Level residents were checking it out. Sure, Touya had watched a few crime shows on television, but there was no doubt in his mind that he had nothing valuable to offer them.

He didn't want to ask what he could do. He didn't want the other residents to be reminded of just how out of his league he really was. So after hemming and hawing for a while, he did the only thing he could think of- he wandered the halls, asking people for alibis.

First Touya ran into Bill, who was shining a flashlight into the keyhole of his own door, claiming to be examining the locking mechanism. He didn't have an alibi for the time of the murder- but he assured Touya that Yancy would be able to vouch for how exhausted he was by the end of the party, and that he could hardly wait until he got into his room before he went to bed.

After Bill came Green, who also said that he had gone straight to bed, and also told Touya to take care of the chair in front of his door before someone breaks their leg. And on his way back to the room, Touya crossed paths with Archer, who concisely said yes, he _did _have an alibi- but didn't Touya have something better to do than pester him? And although Touya knew he should have asked for the Cold Blood's alibi, he instead found himself stuttering out an apology and hurrying back to his room.

Distractedly Touya brought the chair back into his room, contemplating the best place to put it before deciding on shoving it in the corner and dealing with it later. He wasn't in any frame of mind to deal with that now, anyway. He had to get back out there and solve this crime and make things right. He turned around, set on heading back out-

And then his eyes fell on a crumpled ball of paper by the foot of his bed.

Touya staggered towards it, before dropping to his knees and smoothing the paper out carefully, so as to make sure it didn't tear. It was Hugh's letter from earlier. The one he had written and delivered before he had died. Before he was murdered.

_'What's... the point...?'_

What was he hoping to accomplish, solving this case? It wouldn't bring Hugh back to life. It wouldn't set them free. All that would happen is that the murderer would be killed, too- and then the cycle would repeat, and repeat, and repeat and repeat and repeat until everyone was dead.

And besides, what could someone as pathetic as him do? He couldn't even ask Archer for an alibi without running away. He really was useless, wasn't he?

Touya fell forward, his arms wrapping around himself as his head fell against the footboard of his bed, mouth hanging open in a silent wail of agony. He seized, wheezing and screaming because there was nothing else he could do.

_'I don't want to be useless!'_ the thought struck him multiple times, each instance feeling like a fresh blow to the head. The room swirled around him and everything melted into a void. Touko and N weren't here to save him this time. If he was going to stand himself back on his feet, it would have to be on his own terms.

His own terms came some time later with a growl of his stomach.

Touya groaned, managing to lift his head even though it felt like it weighed a ton. His face was hot and when he pressed a hand to it, he could feel the tenderness of where the footboard had dug into his skin, spanning across his forehead. He picked up his hat and placed it back on his head as he wearily sat back on his haunches. When did it fall off? He couldn't remember.

_Despair. Anguish. Hunger_. His thoughts came in short bursts, driving his body like some sort of machine. He pocketed the letter as he wiped the drool from his cheek. He was no better off, now. He was still useless. But he couldn't leave the letter discarded on the floor anymore. The letter was proof that Hugh had once been alive. Its greater meaning was wasted on him- there was nothing he could do, anyway- but maybe, just maybe, it would be useful to someone who was much more capable.

_Food_, his brain insisted. Yes- food came first.

Touya was just vaguely aware of his body moving itself out of his room. He felt himself compulsively triple-check the lock on his door and he felt himself shove his hands into his jacket pockets, but when he did that his skin brushed against Hugh's note and the dread hit him like a brick wall all over again. So he felt himself instead slip his hands into his pants pockets, which he had never done before and it felt terribly uncomfortable, but if he didn't do that with his hands then he didn't know what he would do- which was the exact problem that had been plaguing him since the investigation started.

He let his feet carry him to the cafeteria. It was entirely empty, devoid of people and food alike, so Touya slumped down the stairs and followed his feet into the kitchen.

Someone was in there.

The Lucky Ducklett paused mid-step, his eyes darting to the source of movement and noise. Kris was seated on the counter, one leg dangling and one hand propping her up. She held a half-eaten apple in one hand, and juice dribbled down her chin. Her gaze was skyward, and Touya seemed to go unnoticed.

That was good; maybe she was so wrapped up in her own world that she wouldn't even notice-

"'Eyyy, Touyo!"

Crap.

Kris flashed him a grin, waving with the hand that held the apple. If she noticed his state of disarray at all, she didn't comment on it. "So, ya finally decided to seek me out, huh? I ain't surprised! Ya seem like a guy wit' a good head on 'is shoulders. I's Kris Clarity, I know errythin' 'dere is ta know! So c'mon, ask me fer my expertise! I's been waitin' 'ere all day."

Touya slowly opened his mouth to respond, his brain overwhelmed and rushing to process everything he heard. "Yo, earth ta Touyo," Kris pressed.

"...why?" Touya finally managed, narrowing his eyes as he spoke. "You've been here... all day...? Why..." He squeezed his eyes shut. "Why aren't you doing anything...?! You can... you can help...! Not all of us can be like you... why aren't you helping...?!"

Kris didn't miss a beat. "Psh, of _course _not erryone can be like me!" she crowed with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Didn't'ja hear me? I's Kris-freakin'-Clarity! Best t'ing east'a Ecruteak, captura' extraordinaire, Supa' High School Level-"

"Don't you _get it?!_" Touya demanded, slamming his fist onto the counter. A wave of adrenaline coursed through him, his brain kicking into overdrive and words bubbling up inside of him, threatening to spill out all at once. "Hugh's _dead_! Somebody here _killed _him! Weren't you sitting with him at the party last night? Don't you realize that you were probably the last one he talked to before he died?! He didn't _know_! How _could _he?!" His arms were shaking now- with a trembling hand he reached into his pocket, whipping out the letter and waving it for Kris to see. "He thought he was gonna be alive and he wanted to fight to get out of here but he _can't_ because he's _dead_ and this meeting's never gonna happen now! Somebody _killed _him, Kris! Why aren't you _doing anything_?!"

For once in her life, the pigtailed girl was quiet. A sour expression crossed her face as her nose crinkled. She looked like she was about to say something snide when her gaze drifted to the paper that Touya held between his fingers. Without warning she lunged forward, closing the gap between her and the brunet with such breakneck speed that Touya didn't even managed to react. By the time he yanked his hand back, the letter had been torn from his grip.

"How'd'ja get one'a 'dese?" Kris asked sternly from behind him.

"Give it back!" Touya demanded, reaching for it. But Kris slipped away, her incredible speed placing her at the other end of the kitchen before Touya even turned around.

"How'd'ja get 'dis?!" Kris demanded.

"Hugh slipped it under my door, okay?!" Touya shouted, shaking where he stood. "Now give it back!"

"He _did_?!" Kris asked incredulously. She glanced at the note in her hand before she let out a "feh!" and dropped the note to the ground. Touya scrambled for it, scooping it up holding it close. "He gave one ta _you? _Jus' when I t'ought he had some sense in 'im," she scoffed. "What a schmuck."

"Don't talk about him like that!" Touya shouted, spinning around to face her again. "And how _dare _you! At least I'm _trying_! I'm _trying _to figure out what happened- you won't even do _that _much!"

Kris' nostrils flared. "'Try?'" she repeated, cracking a conceited smirk. "Pal, I never had ta try fer _anythin_' in my whole life! I's literally 'da best at errythin' I do. I's got 'dis whole t'ing figured out. An' _you _can't even get'cher facts straight!" She pointed condescendingly at the Lucky Ducklett, snickering to herself. "What's 'da point'a tryin' if ya know ya ain't gonna be 'da best, anyway?"

Touya shouted in frustration, throwing his head back and pounding his fist onto the counter again. "Just shut _up_!" he demanded. "I _have _my facts straight! If you don't want to help, then fine. Everyone else will figure it out whether you're there or not! In fact, it's probably better that way- just stay away from everyone, okay?!"

The Know-It-All's smirk never faltered. "What's up wit' 'da note, 'den?" she asked sharply.

Touya hesitated, the question catching him entirely off-guard. "...Huh?"

"C'mon, pally. If ya got'cher fact straight, 'den Hugh sendin' you's a note should'a raised a huge red flag fer ya." She looked at him with unbridled derision. "And I ain't tawkin' about 'is questionable choice'a recipient."

The young man was hopelessly confused.

"Tch, jeez," Kris scoffed after a moment of silence. "Didn't'cha notice 'dat 'dere's somethin' missin' from 'dis school? Somethin' i_mportant _fer a school?"

Touya desperately wracked his brain for an answer. He was frozen in place, his curiosity trapping him in the girl's abusive presence. "Um," he began, his voice sounding quieter and much meeker than it had been until now. "Teachers?" he ventured. "Homework...?"

"What, d'ya need me ta hold'jer hand t'rough _errythin_'?" Kris jeered. "Papers! Pens! Pencils! Any type'a writin' utensil fer 'dat matta'! Y'ain't seen a single one since ya got here, have ya?"

Hastily the young man thought back- no, he really _hadn't_. The only paper he'd seen was the note that he found on the desk when he woke up, but that had definitely not been the same paper Hugh's note had been written on. "But if there's no paper," Touya said, "how did-"

"Don't get ahead'a yerself," Kris scolded. "Just 'cause ya haven't seen any don't mean 'dat 'dere _is _none. 'Dere's _one _source'a it. One source. In 'dis _whoooole _school."

Touya didn't have to think nearly as hard this time. "The stationary sets," he answered. He didn't even need Kris to explain the next logical step to him- with the very same breath, he continued. "But... only girls got the stationary sets, right?" He didn't pause for an answer. "And guys got tool kits, which means... which means Hugh couldn't have written those letters himself!"

"Atta boy, Touyo," Kris praised in a way that didn't sound like praise at all. "Now we's gettin' somewhere!"

The Lucky Ducklett wasn't even offended by Kris' tone. What had started as a simple thought quickly branched out and exploded into hundreds more, and soon his brain was abuzz with countless possibilities. "Someone set him up," he blurted, "but it had to be a girl, since otherwise they wouldn't've had a stationary set, either." He ran through a quick list in his head. "Maybe it was Homika," he said aloud. It was horrible to accuse someone of such a terrible thing, but his thoughts were buzzing too quickly for him to feel much guilt. "They seem friendly, and... that's a trope, right? Someone killing their friend so they're the least suspected." He didn't stay on this track for long, though. "I don't think Yancy could do it, there's no way... Janine, maybe?" He felt a little guilty suspecting her, but she _was _a ninja. He'd have to assume that she had some skill with sneaking around and killing others. It was like an out-of-body experience, the way that he quickly worked through the list of his friends, judging in an instant whether or not they could be the culprit. "Lyra... Lyra, I don't think-"

"It was _me_, dummy."

Kris' sharp tone cut through Touya's train of thought like a knife. He wasn't sure if he heard her correctly at first. But as his thoughts caught up with him and he faced the girl, he saw her looking dour.

"...what?" Touya asked. A flare of indignation and betrayal sparked within him. "You... you set him up...?"

Kris' dour expression turned into a sneer. "Whaddya t'ink I am, _stupid_?" asked Kris, before she laughed. "Jeez, 'set 'im up'- 'dat's rich, pally!"

"Then what did you do?" Touya demanded, his tone hardening with every word he spoke. Kris was none the wiser.

"I swapped wit 'im!" she announced proudly, putting her hands on her hips and thrusting out her chest. Her sneer melted into a wide smirk. "Didn't'ja hear me yesterday? I ain't gotta _clue _what someone's s'posed ta do wit' some fancy papers! But apparently _he _did, 'cause right after lunch he asked me ta switch wit 'im! His tool kit fer my stationary set! And I figured 'dat since I's such a charitable person, I'd help 'im out!"

Interacting with this girl was torture- Touya couldn't decide whether he wanted to scream or to cry. "You..." he began, staring at her through narrowed eyes, "you... traded with him." His arms started shaking. "You traded with him- you _knew _he could have written this!"

"Boy, ya sure do catch on _fast_, Touyo!" Kris laughed.

"Then why did you tell me he couldn't have?!" Touya yelled. "I- I suspected so many people!" He brought his shaking hands up to his face, sprawling each hand over his cheeks. "Th-they're my friends, and- and _you_ made me suspect them! _Why?!_"

Kris shrugged helplessly. "I never said anythin," she said. "Ya jus' talk too much, Touyo. Ain't my problem."

Touya could have killed her right there. He could have wrapped his hands around her neck and bashed her head into the countertop and nobody would have even been mad at him. Hell, he'd probably be seen as a hero.

But Touya had more important things to do.

"What, not even a 't'anks'?" Kris called as the Lucky Ducklett stormed out the door, hands balled into fists and each step shaking the floor. "Didn't'cher papa ever teach ya manners?"

Touya didn't even dignify the pigtailed girl with a response. He couldn't waste time on someone like her. Elsewhere in this very school, people were fighting. They were fighting for their fallen friend. They were fighting for justice. They were fighting to stay alive. It didn't matter what they were fighting for- all that mattered was that they were fighting.

He would be there for them. He would fight alongside them- alongside his friends. He didn't know what he could do. He was pretty useless, after all.

But at least he wasn't as useless as Kris was.

Caitlin hated the silence that other people brought.

She enjoyed silence in solitude, of course. And under most circumstances, she would not object to dignified company. She could read their minds, after all. She was an esper. When she could read their minds, she was comfortable, confident, and at peace.

But Monorua had ripped that away with a single order- and its place in the MonoDex sealed her fate.

She hated the silence that she heard as she stood outside of Hugh's door. What was the atmosphere like in there? Was it tense? Or had the murderer's identity been found out? She could no longer simply peek into someone else's thoughts for her answers, and though she had crossed paths with a few individuals throughout the day, she had never bothered to ask how the investigation was progressing. (How does one even go about asking such things, anyway?)

Without the use of her powers, there was nothing else that Caitlin could do. She took a deep breath, reached out for the doorknob, and let herself in.

"Arms out," said Homika curtly, and the sudden realization that someone was there nearly made Caitlin jump back. She felt truly blinded by Monorua's rule- how on _earth _did ordinary people survive?

Caitlin looked at the Rock Star for a long moment before it registered that those two words had been intended as a request. "...of course," Caitlin said hesitantly, spreading her arms and wondering what was going to come next. Her answer came without warning as Homika ran her hands down the Esper's sides. The blonde tensed, her breath hitching in the back of her throat. "How uncouth," she muttered.

"Look, it isn't like I like doin' it," Homika said harshly. "God, how many times have I had to do it?!"

"It's what you signed up for," said Akuroma from the bed. Something about his tone was different than usual, but Caitlin had no idea _what_.

"May I proceed?" asked Caitlin, and Homika nodded. With a small bow of her head, Caitlin stepped around the Rock Star. She kept her gaze trained on the floor. She had no desire to acquaint herself with a corpse- [especially not if the corpse was a familiar.]

Instead she turned and headed for Hugh's desk. "Oh?" Akuroma said. "You seem to be here with a purpose."

It took Caitlin a moment to respond. "Yes," she said. "I would not be here otherwise." She lifted her head just enough to scan the surface of Hugh's desk before she reached for the top drawer. She peeked inside to find it empty. The second drawer was the same, but the third drawer had something of notable size inside.

"Good. At least _someone _knows what they're doing," Homika said with a certain heaviness in her tone.

Akuroma's response was instant. "I _know _what I'm doing!" he snapped.

"Is it not progressing well?" asked Caitlin, alarmed.

"It's going fine," Akuroma asserted. "As fine as it _can_, considering how little equipment is at my disposal."

"Uh-huh," said Homika. "Anyway, Caitlin, what do you have there?"

Caitlin held it out for the Rock Star to see. "A stationary set," she replied simply.

"Hang on- weren't guys supposed to get tool kits instead?" asked Homika.

"Yes," said Caitlin. She placed the container on the desk before sitting down herself, opening it up, and searching through its contents.

"Curious," said Akuroma. "And curious indeed how you seem aware of its existance. If I may be so bold, how did you fall into this information?"

Caitlin found what she was looking for and silently counted to herself, letting one paper fall out of her grip with each number. Finally, when the last paper fell, she answered. "I received a note," she said as she closed the container once more. "From Hugh."

"Oh!" Homika exclaimed. "Didn't Janine say something like that, too?"

"I had a feeling that might be the case," Caitlin said as she turned the box over, scanning the list of contents that was printed on the back. "It was an invitation to a meeting in his room. But I doubted that he would send out only one." She found what she was looking for and her eyes briefly flitted along the line of text before she smiled. "And indeed, I was correct."

"He sent more than one?" asked Homika.

"He seems to have sent four," said Caitlin.

"You're kidding me- _four _of them, and I _still _didn't get one?!" Homika growled and stalked back towards the door. "That kid _really _needs to get his priorities straight."

"Needed," Akuroma corrected listlessly. "_Needed _to get his priorities straight."

"Would you _shut up_?!" roared Homika. "I _get it_! He's _dead_! Stop pointing it out and figure out _why_!"

"I _have _figured out why!" Akuroma objected, and Caitlin finally placed the tone in his voice as exasperation. "I can _confirm _that it was blunt trauma as the cause of death, stemming from the-"

_Ding dong, ding dong._

Akuroma stopped mid-sentence and glared at the nearest security camera as if the interruption was a personal insult. "I'll continue later, I suppose," he grumbled.

"Ehh, it's been long enough, don't you think?" Monorua's distinctive voice rang throughout the room. "Let's get started! The class trial everyone's been waiting for! Please report to the conference room immediately!" Then Monorua laughed, distorted by the loudspeaker. "Upupupu... see you soon!"

Then the intercom went silent, and Caitlin was faced with the silence that other people brought once again. It was suffocating. It was terrifying.

"It's going to be alright," Akuroma assured her with a smile.

Caitlin was taken aback. "Are you also **an esper**?" she asked, eyes wide.

Akuroma raised both eyebrows before he laughed. "No, no," he corrected. "I simply have good intuition."

"Oh," Caitlin said. She was relieved, and moderately disappointed.

"Come on," Homika said gruffly. "Let's get going."

"Indeed," Akuroma agreed.

Together, the three of them left the crime scene, making their way to the designated meeting place. All that Caitlin could hear was the suffocating, terrifying silence. It followed her all the way to the conference room- and even there, when they entered, the conversations hushed.

In that moment, nothing could have been more terrifying. Someone in that room was a murderer- and all they were saying was silence.

"That makes everyone," said N as the door closed behind the trio that had just entered. Touya looked up, surprised. The entire group had managed to gather without him noticing. He had been one of the first to arrive, alongside Bill who had seemed far too eager for some company. But it had given Touya chance to help, so who was he to question it?

"S'about time, ya schmucks!" called a voice, and Touya assumed it was Kris' until Kris spoke up a second later.

"'Ey, put a cork in it, pally! I don't sound _anythin' _like 'dat!" Kris barked in Monorua's direction. "Ya sound _ridiculous_!"

In response, Monorua chuckled before its tone reverted to normal. "Anyway, now that everyone's finally here, it's time to head to the courtroom!"

"Wouldn't it make more sense to use _this _as the courtroom?" asked Archer. "You seem to use it for just about everything else."

"Ehh..." Monorua sweated and shifted its weight from one side to the other. "Well, that was the plan at first, but then I realized just how symbolic an elevator would be instead! A looooong descent, sinking deeper and deeper into despair... the very thought of it makes my heart start a-thumping!"

"I-I, um," Touko spoke up hesitantly, "don't... see any elevator."

Monorua laughed. "Well, _duh_!" it chortled. "What kind of conference room would this be if there was an _elevator _in the middle of it?" Before anyone could answer, the zorua hopped over to the far wall and thumped one of its hind legs against it twice.

With a rumble, a previously hidden and well-disguised door opened in the wall, splitting to reveal a wide elevator that sat in wait. The sliding doors groaned as they came to a halt.

"Upupu... fancy, huh?" asked Monorua. "Please, step inside! It will bring you bastards directly to the school courtroom. To the court that will decide your fate..." again the zorua laughed, unable to contain itself. It trotted away from the waiting elevator before it said one final thing. "I'll meet you down there... Don't keep me waiting!" And with that Monorua leapt high into the air. A split second later it crashed down in the form of a ceiling light, which promptly shattered into hundreds of tiny shards.

Bill, who had been closest to Monorua, yelped and jumped back to avoid being pelted by the shards of glass. Touya's gaze trailed skyward to find that one of the lights in the room had mysteriously vanished. That would explain it.

"Awright, ya heard 'da schmuck," announced Kris, loudly clapping her hands together. "Let's get 'dis over wit', yeah?" She bravely marched forward, entering the elevator as if it were any other elevator in the world. Akuroma followed without a word. Then went Archer, then Homika, then Proton, then Lyra. Slowly, everyone filed in, until only four people remained.

"I don't want to do this," Touko sobbed into her hands. "Why do we have to do this...?"

"Because someone here has murdered Hugh," N replied, and Touko flinched. The Pokemon Whisperer wrapped an arm around the girl, squeezing her forearm as a show of comfort. "But don't worry, Touko! We'll figure this out. Besides- trash that takes a life so needlessly has no place in the new world. They will not be missed, and it will be no great loss, I can assure you."

Trembling like a leaf, Touko took a broken step towards the elevator before she seized, refusing to budge. "I'm not going," she said. "I'm not going, I'm not going, _I'm not going!_"

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Proton roared, breaking free from the crowded elevator and lunging for the Athlete. Before Touya or N could do anything the Sadist had grabbed her around the thighs, throwing her over his shoulder as if she weighed nothing.

"Let go of her!" N demanded, but he was hesitant to physically restrain the Rocket.

Proton ignored him and instead spun on his heel, stormed back to the elevator, and discarded Touko callously in an empty spot. "There," he spat, keeping a mercilessly firm grip on her arm.

Touko didn't struggle even once. She stayed there, burying her face in her hands. "I don't want to go I don't want to go I don't want to go," she said.

N followed after the Rocket, spewing a few choice words, leaving only two people outside of the elevator. Touya was just about to head in, not wanting to be the one to hold everyone up, when a soft voice sounded from beside him.

"Touya," said Caitlin. He glanced to the side to see her with her gaze trained on the floor, her arms crossed beside her back. "It is... going to be okay." Her words came out stunted and deliberate, as if each sound she made required concentrated effort. The young man's eyebrows raised. "We are going to get through this."

"I know," Touya said, and the simplicity in his tone must have caught Caitlin off-guard. But it was true. "You don't need to be telling _me _this," he explained. "You should be reassuring the others. _They're _the ones we really have to rely on." He smiled at her and steepled his fingers in front of his middle.

Caitlin knitted her brow in confusion. "What... do you mean?" she asked, as if she had never had to ask such a thing before.

"All I can do is hope that good luck is enough- I mean, it's really all I have to offer," he said pleasantly. "So don't waste your encouragement on me!" He laughed. "I appreciate it- I really do- please don't get the wrong idea. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here among all of you. I mean- not _here_, in this situation- but, being given the chance to attend a conference that is... way out of my league." Touya's voice grew softer. "I'm going to do my best to stay out of everyone's way. I mean, I'll do what I can, but I know that it isn't much. It's everyone else who have the skills to figure this out. And I know they will. Everyone here is amazing." Touya smiled.

And then Touya strolled into the elevator, squeezing into wherever there was room. He supposed that he should be anxious. He should be panicking. For quite possibly the first time, he did not envy the legitimate Super High School Level residents. It was _their _mystery to unravel, after all.

Caitlin stepped in some time after him, taking the most open spot left. She took up as little space as she could, standing between Homika and the wall.

"Hey," Homika said after a moment. "Is that perfume you're wearing?" The Rock Star leaned closer to Caitlin and sniffed. "Man, it _is_! It smells really good- you're so lucky to have perfume right now!"

The Esper turned listlessly to glance at Homika. "Me having this perfume is... a lot more than good luck," she said. Then she turned further to look at Touya, giving him a cryptic look that he couldn't hope to understand in his current state. He just stared back at her, blinking every so often as the elevator doors closed and the lift began its descent.

This may have been leading down to a courtroom of life and death... a class trial of hope and despair... but it was all out of Touya's hands.


End file.
